At last....Brave Combo! I've been waiting a long time for this show and last night was the night. I last saw the band in Dallas in May 2005. They don't get to SoCal that often, so I was pretty excited when I saw they were coming. Initially, they were just booked for a free show at MacArthur Park in downtown LosAngeles, but this show was added at Safari Sam's in Hollywood.
First up was DJ Bonebrake's band Orchestra Superstring. He's switched from drums to vibes. The music was jazzy, beatnik sounding. I felt I needed to have a beret and black turtleneck. I enjoyed it.
I was so excited to hear the band and was periodically dancing so I did not make a set list or write anything down, I'm just going to go from memory here.
The biggest thing was that Bubba the bassist, isn't in the band any longer. He left to do some different music and in his place is AnnMarie.
They played a couple rocking polkas right off to get everyone moving. Everyone got out to "twist" to a mashup of "Ein Prosit" and "Hava Nagila". That was pretty wacky. They do a lot of these medleys. Another was a blend of "Peter Gunn", "Pink Panther", "Get Smart" and "Batman".
The band also just released a new album "Polka's Revenge", so they did a few songs from that which sounded great. I purchased the CD, so I'll give a review once I've had a chance to digest it.
Other songs included some Nortena songs, Hosa Dyna, Bumble Bee polka, At the Friendly Tavern, Behind Closed Doors, to name a few.
The venue was pretty nice, I think it is a rather new enterprise and the staff was friendly. There might have been a max of 150 people in there. We were all a little worried at first, since they had long tables set up for dining on what would be the dance floor. Thankfully they were removed before Brave Combo started. Some of the audience were pretty good dancers. There was even some old codger out there shaking a leg.
I brought my new camera in hopes I could get some good shots, but between the low battery and my inexperience with the camera...none really turned out. Oh well.
The surrounding neighborhood is a mix of Thai Town and Little Armenia, so we went to Jitlada Thai Restaurant that is located across the street. Yummy food!
We had a great time. Even though I was tired all day today, it was totally worth it. I hope I don't have to wait another two years to see them again.
Check out the Brave Combo website!
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