The Big Jim West Live Performance Topic

All about Steve Jay, Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, Rubén Valtierra, and Jim West.

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TMBJon
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Post by TMBJon »

Is anyone else planning to go to Jim's show tomorrow night in Santa Monica?
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Post by ludovica64 »

If you are going Jon could you review it for us here please?
There's another gig in San Pedro on the 21st.. anyone going to that one?
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Post by BabyBoolie27 »

TMBJon @ December 14, 2008 03:34 am wrote: Is anyone else planning to go to Jim's show tomorrow night in Santa Monica?
*sigh* sometimes I really wish I lived closer to CA! But yes, if anyone is going please review it for us here! That would be awesome!
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Post by Kristine »

I might go... thinking about it. I'd have to leave here in a couple hours.
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Post by Kristine »

I decided to go!

My mom and I left the house a little before 7, and arrived just before 8pm. I saw Kimo standing around, so I walked up and said hi, and introduced by mom. He was very surprised and happy to see us there. Even I didn't know I was going until hours before, so of course I didn't tell him. The venue ended up being a little hole-in-the-wall divey bar... a little different than I (and, I later learned, Kimo) had imagined. Kimo started his set, and everyone was quiet. There wasn't a whole lot of places to sit, but there were just enough when he started. During his 40 minute set, more people cruised in. It ended up being pretty full by the end of the second person's set. Anyways, more on Kimo. He played a couple songs from his CDs, and some traditional covers. He even sang for a couple of them. His voice is really suited for this style of music- very laid back and soft. After a few songs, I look to my left at the bar, and almost had to do a second take. Rubén was standing there! I quietly called his name and waved. I didn't think I'd see anyone I knew, let alone a band member. But, Kimo's myspace did say something about "special guests". One of the songs Kimo played required assistance from modern technology. If any of you have seen him perform before, especially at the Slack Key Festival, you've probably seen him do this technique. Pretty funny, actually. He started playing White Christmas on the guitar, and about halfway through he pressed a pedal on the floor and stopped playing live. Instead, there was a recording of him playing the guitar. He put the guitar down and picked up the steel guitar. He played a duet with himself! Then he switched back and turned off the recording in perfect timing to play the final chords. The crowd loved it. Kimo also played Imagine, which also got a great reaction. His finale piece was Kona Koffee, a jam-session-like song which throws in many different difficult techniques and slowly picks up speed. I can't move my fingers even half that fast! Geez. It was amazing to watch, even though I had heard the song before.
There was a small break to set up between sets, so I went over to say hi to Rubén. He came back and sat with my mom and I for the other sets. The evening just got even more entertaining. Hahaha, I love chatting with him. I laughed so much. By this time, people were paying less attention to whoever was on stage- it's a good thing Kimo went first. The acts started to become background music. Which was ok with me, since I wanted to chat. We talked about schools, about UC Davis (me, 4th year), UC Santa Cruz (him), and Chico (my mom). He did his usual making fun of me for being short, too. Somehow we got on the topic of an mp3 of his O' Holy Night recording being better than Kimo's Christmas CD. So competitive, sheesh! I told him to prove it, so he's (maybe) going to email it to me. We'll see who's better, muahaha. When he handed me his card with his email on it, I pointed to that picture he uses on myspace (white crackly background, wearing a black suit) and asked him if he ever uses any other photo. Seriously, that picture is old and he always uses that one for everything. My mom chimed in, "hint, hint, you need to get more pictures taken", pointing to me, of course. I didn't mean it like that, I just meant he really only uses one picture. Anyways, that got us started on the photography topic. Rubén told my mom that I'm Al's official photographer.... then he added, "well, the west coast photographer, anyway. Fred is the east coast." That sparked conversation of various other fans, including Dave. By this time, I think, the next set was getting ready. I can't really remember any more specifics of the conversation, but I do remember that it was entertaining to say the least. Rubén left one set before we did, and Kimo came over and took his seat. He, my mom, and I talked for a bit. Then we decided around 10:30 that it was time to leave, even though there was one more set. We said goodbye to Kimo, and he thanked us for coming. It didn't take long to get home that late at night. I'm glad I went, I really enjoyed it.
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Post by ludovica64 »

Thanks Kristine, sounds like you had quite an evening
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Post by TMBJon »

Thanks for the review, Kristine.
Sorry I never made it there, but.. you know how it goes. Next time.
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Post by BabyBoolie27 »

Ooooh thanks for posting that Kristine! That is awesome that you got to go, and spend some chat time with Ruben and Jim! That sounded like it was an amazing performance! Wish I could have been there!!!!!
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Post by Orthography Enthusiast »

It sounds like a great evening. He did that accompanying-himself-electronically thing at the Manhattan Beach Library performance, too... first he played a slack key song, then payed it back and accompanied himself on steel guitar.
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Post by ludovica64 »

Oh, I hadnt realised anyone from here went to the library gig.. how did that go in general.. Looked like that might have been a lot of fun
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