John Hiatt & The Combo at Belly Up (Solana Beach, Calif. – July 30, 2104)
ace rice
Posted On July 31, 2014
He is older now, and perhaps wiser.
John Hiatt and the Combo came on and entertained a mostly Baby Boomer packed house at the legendary Belly Up in Solana Beach, CA last night. His first three tunes were from way back in his song book and then he hit me between the eyes with the new ‘Old People’ from Terms of My Surrender Album. The lyrics are his wonderful tongue in cheek, and stuck me that he was singing about me! He mixed four new tunes in with some of my favorites from his nearly forty year career. The Belly Up is a lovely smallish club and to see and hear up close was a real treat…well worth the 160 mile round trip.
The Combo was tight and cooked. Sound was clean by the third song, and the tone was ‘vintage’….gritty, bluesy and gut bucket at times. He started promptly at 8:00PM with no opener, which was great since we were out way too late ‘on a school night’. What struck me from the opener on was just how smooth and comfortable John is playing and singing. He body language and huge grin suggested he really was enjoying himself and the music his Combo was producing. I was also reminded of what a strong right hand he has as a guitar player. Go see and hear him if you can…he is a treasure.
Set List:
Dad Did
Tennessee Plates
Real Fine Love
Old People
Crossing Muddy Waters
Terms of My Surrender
Cry Love
Long Time Coming
Only The Wind Knows
Perfectly Good Guitar
Thing Called Love
Memphis In the Meantime
Slow Turning
Encore
Have a Little Faith
Riding With The King
