Al Stewart The Canyon Club, Los Angeles, CA January 20, 2018
Story and photos by Stevo Rood
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Al Stewart returned to Los Angeles on Saturday night for the fans’ long-awaited “Year of the Cat” tour. I, for one, have been waiting decades for this, as I was a little young when the album was released in 1976.
Al was supported by The Empty Pockets who have been touring with him all across the country and really sound great together. Al was clearly enjoying himself with these talented artists. We also got the pleasure to see and hear Marc Macisso as he handled many of the instrumental solos performed throughout the evening (harmonica, flute and saxophone).
The show was everything a fan, old or new (and most of us were in the former category) would have asked for. Al opened up with “Antarctica” from his Last Days of the Century release and then a few other familiar songs and hits including the #7 song in 1978, “Time Passages,” which to this day gets radio airplay.
After that, we began our journey together with stories about each track as Al performed the entire Year of the Cat album in order. He told us a little about the song and the hopeful but disappointed responses from the record execs who were looking for hits and not songs about ship captains (Lord Grenville) from the 1500s. LOL. I think, in the end, they got what they wanted with YOTC and On The Border, among others.
One highlight for the die-hard fans was when Al, performed ‘In Brooklyn’ sans The Empty Pockets, from his Love Chronicles album from 1969, and tells a really descriptive story of Al, moving to NY and his meeting of a woman and being consumed by the city and her world. It was just fantastic and unexpected. To finish out the evening, he did return to the stage following a lengthy applause and cheers from the audience to play a few more songs the fans sang along to.
See all of Stevo Rood’s photos from the night at LMNR’s Facebook page.
Towards the end of the evening, Al surprised the audience by introducing a longtime friend of his, Peter Beckett of the band Player, which had several hits back in the late 70s, including the hit ‘Baby Come Back’ which hit #1 on the charts. Peter performed the hit with The Empty Pockets and was great to hear again live!
See the whole Stewart-Beckett onstage collaboration at this video taken by YouTube user Mark Russell here:
Setlist: Sirens of Titan Antarctica Time Passages Lord Grenville On The Border Midas Shadow Sand In Your Shoes In Brooklyn (Solo, no band) Flying Sorcery Broadway Hotel One Stage Before Year of the Cat Encore: Baby Come Back with Peter Beckett of Player (No Al) If It Doesn’t Come Naturally
See all of Stevo Rood’s photos from the night at LMNR’s Facebook page.
To submit a review or story for consideration hit us at [email protected]
Check out the Live Music News and Review.com Facebook page for updates and announcements.
