Another Planet Entertainment presents Jackie Greene,
with the Mother Hips and Tumbleweed Wanderers
2014-03-21
Fox Theatre
1807 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA
7:00 PM, Friday, March 21, 2014
Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!
[7:00 PM; lights down, no introduction, waiting]
[8:11 PM lights down, go!]
[9:43 PM lights down, go!]
Slacking after an early start and a busy Friday, we didn't get down to the Fox until just about showtime. Fortunately, we could walk right in and politely wedge ourselves into Ting' favorite spot – the center of the front drink rail. The place seemed absurdly empty when the lights dimmed and the opening band, Oakland's own Tumbleweed Wanderers hit the stage for a fun half-hour set.
By break time, the place was starting to fill in pretty well, and when Mother Hips took the stage about 30 minutes later, I'd say that the place was starting to get thick! The Hips seemed quite psyched to open, and ripped through their hour-long set with positively ferocious energy. Well done guys! Makes me think I should put you back on the must see list.
The next break was a bit longer – probably for clearing and resetting more gear than usual, so the crowd was well-lubricated by the time Jackie took the stage. Overall, I felt like the show was a little over-biased towards slow, weepy numbers and ballads aimed at starry-eyed twinks, but maybe that is stretching things a bit too much. I admit that I was pretty tired, and I wanted to hear more rocking tunes to keep me up and dancing. Still, we got a solid two hour set, and at least some of the tunes – New Speedway Boogie! – rocked totally hard.
Although it was back to mellow for the first encore, a sweet cover of Marvin Gaye's 1977 hit, What's Goin' On?, I appreciated that choice, not only because it's a stone classic, but because Jackie invested it with heartfelt emotion. It also made for fine contrast before the final tune of the night, which saw the Hips join Jackie onstage for an absolutely screaming rendition of White Headphones.
At barely 11:30, it seemed much too early for the night to end, but that was all she wrote tonight, so we had to pack up and head out. Walking out onto Telegraph about 10 or 15 minutes later, we were surprised to see how busy the street scene was, with bars, restaurants and smaller clubs all spilling patrons out into the night. Collecting their share of attention, the Tumbleweed Wanders were busking in front of the fountain on the corner at 18th. We stayed to listen to a song or two, then wandered off to find our car and drive home.
Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!