Taylor Hicks and Elliot Yamin jammin' in Agoura Hills...

The Taylor Hicks soundcheck about 5:30 p.m. on a beautiful California evening at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills gave no hint of the surprises to come. We sat outside listening to a familiar voice through the Club’s open door.

The waiting never gets old.

After dinner, we waited until someone in a baseball cap slipped onto the dimly lit stage carrying equipment and guitar. It was Josh Smith who played guitar in the Taylor Hicks tour band in 2007! He was joining the band tonight! And he was in that old 2007 groove from the start on “Rockin’ Pneumonia” and “The Boogy Woogy Flu” tagging “Hey Pokey Way.”

“The Deal” went down next and then the always beautiful “Maybe You Should.” Next, was my personal “dark horse.” On first listen, I didn’t think I would ever warm up to it, but “I Live on a Battlefield” is hard to beat for shear excitement, energy, and momentum. It makes your heart beat!! I am hooked on it now!

“What’s Right is Right” took off in many directions with tags coming along faster than Nascars on a straightaway—“Mystic Church,” “Waitin’ for the Ya Ya,” “Moonshine Whiskey,” “99 Red Luft Balloons.”

Like the mostly blue stage lighting, the music turned bluesy when the harp came out on “Back to Louisiana.”

Taylor Hicks and his harp--all you have to say!


“Gonna Move” always has the easy, “moving” feel to it. Taylor mixes up the phrasing and timing a little bit, and it’s new again. It’s like hearing an old friend with a twist of lime.

I believe it was somewhere along here that Taylor quickly left the stage and came back in a short sleeved dry shirt. It was warm in the room!

“Hold On To Your Love” took us back to 2007 again when Taylor introduced his drummer from his National Solo Tour that year, Felix Pollard. Felix sat in on drums for the rest of the show and proved why there are drum solos.

Concerts may have encores. This show had a finale and another surprise guest. With a grin on his face, Taylor introduced his “bro” from American Idol Season Five, the “one and only” Elliot Yamin…sing like “yamin it!” Their duet on “Use Me,” with Josh Smith on guitar, Felix Pollard on drums, Brian Less on keyboards, Jeff Lopez on sax, and David Keith who had temporarily given up his drums, was a band of musicians who don’t just love their music…they are passionate about it.

That was this band this night in Agoura Hills—musicians who do it because they have to. It’s who they are, and they were having fun.

It was a pleasure being part of their fun!

“Music that controls musicians is what I live for” was on twitter recently. It seemed like some of these people were on stage in Agoura Hills this week.

~~
Taylor Hicks and Elliot Yamin ~ "Use Me"




Notes and Credits:

Quote from Connie Leinicke was in response to Taylor’s link to his early “Rehearsal’s Hollywood Nights” video to which she responded in part: “Music that controls musicians is what I live for.”

Photos and Video by San: Taylor Hicks and Elliot Yamin, “Use Me.”

Taylor Hicks~~on the acoustic stage...hold on to your heart!

It is another surprise from Taylor Hicks when we are no longer caught off guard by surprises.

Taylor Hicks disconnects the cords, turns down the amps, and strips away the gloss when he performs an acoustic concert at the Magic Bag in Ferndale, Michigan, June 22nd. Joining him will be old band mate, Brian Less, on keyboards and current Music Director of the Shadow Tour concerts, Josh Smith on guitar. With Taylor on guitar and harmonica, that’s a formidable band on any stage.

Acoustic shows gained popularity in the 90s when MTV Unplugged featured artists performing their music without the high production values and amplified instruments. It was often not new music, but their hits presented in a bare bones rendition. Fans wanted to know if the music of singers like Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton would stand up without all of the electronic frills. For many of music’s legends, it did. Eric Clapton’s Unplugged album in 1992 sold 10 million and he won a grammy for “Tears in Heaven” from that album.

We’ve seen an unplugged Taylor Hicks before. The first I was privileged to enjoy was in 2007 in Birmingham where he came back for the encore and sang the heart-rending “Birmingham” and “My Home’s in Alabama.” Another stirring moment was in New Orleans that year when he sang “Louisiana.” At Millersville he sat on the stool and sang “Here Comes the Sun.” These are rare times for the Taylor motion machine that wears a soaked jacket after the third or fourth song. Yet, the man and his guitar on a dark stage with the sound of pure Taylor voice are no less captivating. You are taken away by music in its purest sense.

Ferndale has a memorable evening coming. Taylor has said that he may sing “Maybe You Should” –a moment for which many of us have waited. Could we also hear “Indiscriminate Act of Kindness,” or completely new music on the set list? Has Taylor been planning this all along? Saving these acoustic gems for a change up in the intimate club shows that he says he prefers. He has always said, “The best is yet to come.” And it just keeps coming…and changing!

Is The Magic Bag a “magic bag of tricks” for Taylor—a new vibe for a show that already packs the house and brings it down. On this night in Ferndale, you can expect that Taylor Hicks will have that house in the palm of his hand.

If you go to this one, take your heart in hand. You will need to hold on to it.

Thanks to RagsQueen for the photo from The Triple Door, Seattle. Used with permission. Please do not repost.