Gettin' th' Blues On at Club 705 Sunday, August 16, 2009

It was the last Doug MacLeod appearance in the South Bay for 2009... it was supposed to be in someone's back yard - our good friend's annual Blues BBQ - but we found ourselves at Club 705 on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach instead. No matter; we hadn't been to Club 705 in quite awhile ... if ever, and found it to be quite comfy - almost like having a party in your own home. It was clean, had a nice ambiance, and made you feel like settling in to listen to the artist of the night. The cover was only $10 per person.

The night's show was Doug on guitar/vocals/stories, Denny on base, and Jack on drums. As usual, all were entertaining. The first song of the night was "Brand New Day" an upbeat song letting folks know that if they are lucky enough to wake up again the next day "in the same bed in which they went to sleep", they should remember to make the most of it. Besides the blues-y chords and melodies, I love to hear the stories that go with each song (see the MP3 widget in the upper left sidebar to hear some snippets). I guess that's part of Doug's success and why he is called the "Storytelling Bluesman". We were lucky to come away with an autographed CD - "The Utrecht Sessions" -


and some good times with friends too. I found out that Doug has a DVD and a Blues 101 book too. Here's a link to Doug's tour schedule We'll catch up with him again when he returns to the area. We wish him and his crew safe travels and also a speedy recovery for our Blues BBQ host and hope to be outside again in 2010. More on Doug MacLeod here.