Entertainment News
Live Music review
AWOL
by Ryan Beachkofski
Longtime South Bay rockers AWOL played the Lighthouse Café over the weekend to a very tanned, very damp crowd of revelers. Apparently too much sun, a lack of AC and a set list full of classic rock standards is the ‘in’ thing this season of triple digit temps.
AWOL, a group of hired guns who rent their talents out to the best paying or best possible venue, come together often to hone their stage presence and have a little fun at the same time. Former members of the Albert Hall Group, Paul Nelson, Greg Pfab and Mark Evangelista, join as a trio to prattle off classics that range in chronology and style. From Tom Petty and Johnny Cash to more contemporary neo classics, like anything from Sublime or Green Day, AWOL is exceptionally tight and pleasing to the ear.
A far cry from the novice singer/songwriters that seem to inhabit every garage and carport in town, these three gents are either classically trained or they have respect for both the music and the listener. The guitars are in tune, the tempo is off a click track and they can harmonize… really. It is simply more engaging for the audience to enjoy good talent than it is to watch a little 5-beer courage and something from the green tag sale at Guitar Center turn into a train wreck.
Under the guidance of the new GM at the Lighthouse Café, CJ Chiappinelli, we are going to see more talented musicians like the guys from AWOL.
CJ’s excitement to book better talent was infectious and I certainly hope he makes good on his promise, but it is going to be a tall order to fill the stage with the likes of the talent that adorns the wall behind the bar and reverberates from the rafters.
This night, however, was AWOL spreading the gospel of classic rock to the smiling sweaty patrons who sat along the long bar and glided across the now-slippery dance floor. The band broke into Mary Jane’s Last Dance and the party continued well into the evening. It was another fine affair at the Lighthouse and AWOL was to blame. ER
