Kansas City Blog

BY ROBERT FOLSOM

I'm a girl watcher, I'm a girl watcher/Here comes one now.

Or five. And they weren't girls. They were Dave Alvin's Guilty Women taking the stage to the tune of the O'Kaysions' "Girl Watcher" Friday night at the Folly Theater, just ahead of their bandleader.

Scott Spychalski

Click for more pics of Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women.

Alvin formed his all-female backing band in 2008 after the death of his close friend, West Coast singer-songwriter Chris Gaffney, who had been a member of Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men.

Alvin brought the West Coast with him to Kansas City, starting with "King of California." It was a good opener. Besides setting the mood for California songs, the instrumentation of Cindy Cashdollar's Dobro and Amy Farris' fiddle accompanying Alvin on acoustic guitar and vocals made for a faithful rendition of the song from his album of the same name, an album that showcased an unplugged Alvin.

But acoustic doesn't mean mellow. After Alvin made a remark about the Folly and previous tours to KC - "Well, they really did spruce up the Grand Emporium, didn't they? Still got the barbecue in the back?" - the Guilty Women launched full tilt into the Blasters' classic "Marie Marie." The beat was propelled by drummer Lisa Pankratz and bassist Sarah Brown, who, Dave Alvin said, has her own page in Blues for Dummies.

Alvin's Golden State roots showed with three California songs in a row -"California Bloodlines" ("a tip of the hat to the late John Stewart," he said), "California's Burning" and "Here in California" - but he also expressed a mystical attraction to Kansas City for "the giants that have walked these streets": Charlie Parker, yes, but Alvin had anecdotes to tell about Big Joe Turner. One of those was in the song "Boss of the Blues," a sparkling country boogie number about a night in 1972 when 16-year-old Dave and older brother Phil spent the night riding with the blues shouter as he reminisced about L.A.'s Central Avenue scene.

Alvin was in good voice, even if it was a deeper, aged baritone, noticeable even when speaking. An appealing contrast was the lead vocal of Christy McWilson, who was a fireball onstage. It was good to see Dave Alvin, but the kinetic McWilson commanded attention. She also provided an emotional center.

She had a growl to her country blues original "Weight of the World"; the rhythm was upbeat, but you knew she knew that weight.

Scott Spychalski

One McWilson moment was heartbreakingly honest. Her song "Potter's Field" held deep meaning for her: In the fields where I belong/Where the powerless are strong/And the nameless are unclaimed and unrevealed/Oh, bury me in Potter's Field. As she sang the last line of the song, her plaintive voice gave way to pure emotion. It was hard for her to finish the song.

So Dave Alvin joked, "Now we're going to sing a sad song," and enlisted her to sing George Jones' "What Am I Worth."

Then Dave got out his Fender electric guitar for the remainder of the show, and the panoramic warmth of earlier songs such as "Abilene" was replaced by the raucous tones of "Fourth of July." The crowd of about 500 people had aged with the headliner, so searing guitar solos brought back memories. Just one problem: Dave's Fender was an ear-slicing onslaught of treble tones.

But even through the volume, Alvin invoked the memory of his late best friend/bodyguard/spiritual adviser Chris Gaffney with Gaffney's sweet waltz, "Man of Somebody's Dreams." Then Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women wrapped up the evening with "a song of universal truths," a spirited version of Doris Day's "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)."

Scott Spychalski

Click for slide show.

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Local act Rex Hobart and the Misery Boys opened the show with a goodtime, faux Branson act, getting the audience to yell, "Wait outside!" during a breakneck number. A neat trick. Hobart and the Boys played several songs with tight, clever arrangements. Their set could have been a little shorter, hitting those highlights harder and making an even better impression than they did, which was a good one.

Set List
King of California
Marie Marie
California Bloodlines
California's Burning
Here in California
Weight of the World
Abilene
Boss of the Blues
Potter's Field
What Am I Worth
Fourth of July
Ashgrove
Dry River

Encore
Man of Somebody's Dreams
Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)