There is something special about The Wood Brothers on a Wednesday night. Or was it Tuesday? In actual fact, it was a Thursday night, but don’t fault Oliver Wood for getting confused. Whatever night he thought it was, it was another superb evening of Americana; roots and soul, rhythm and blues.
The Wood Brothers have made a habit out of rolling into LosAngeles sometime between Groundhog Day and the first blooms of spring. Steadily, they’ve outgrown the venues they’vebooked, moving this time from the Fonda in Hollywood to downtown L.A.’s Regent. It was a nearly full house- a good sign giventhe present global concern of gatherings; though many fans entering and exitingthe theater were using elbows to push open doors, (the most hygienic method,presumably, short of kicking it down).
Onstage, The Wood Brothers were certainly kicking, openingwith confident restraint on “Alabaster,” the lead track from their new Kingdom in My Mind. It was on “Glad” that the irony of acaptivated audience hearing Oliver sing about being glad to see you, and gladto see you go, in the shadow of the COVID-19 virus, sank in a bit moreconsciously. “Don’t take it personally,”he quipped.
On “American Heartache,” Oliver’s protagonist never staysstill. He’s always moving. So, too, are Oliver and his two mates-brother and bassist Chris Wood and percussionist/keyboardist Jano Rix- movingacross a two-hour performance that supported their latest album while touchingdown as well on the band’s decade-plus history. Moving so much, guitarist Oliver even spoke of it being a Wednesdaynight in one of his between-songs asides.
He beautifully fingerpicked through the harmonized chorus of“Little Bit Sweet,” as Chris plucked fluidly on upright bass, and Rix held the pulsingbeat steady. They dished out partyfavorite “Shoofly Pie,” and slid into Chris’ thumping bass and his turn on leadvocals for the sober “Don’t Think About My Death.” They dedicated “When I Was Young” to all theyoung people, of which they counted basically anyone alive, then to allconfessed being broken during, of course, “Little Bit Broken.”
Two Wood Brothers neo-classics followed: first with a tender“Postcards from Hell” welcomed cheerfully by the L.A. throng, then on theshaking “Who the Devil” that followed Chris’ spooky bowed intro and inspiredhim to dance interpretively midway in. Gatheringaround Big Mic, they sang and played as an old-time trio, appreciative that theshushers were keeping chatty temporarily in check. The mini-set culminated with a sing-along on“I Got Loaded” that released the crowd from their self-imposed quiet time,transitioning nicely into the electrified mash-up of “Happiness Jones” and thethrowback soul of Charles Wright’s “Express Yourself.”
Closing with a rousing run at The Band’s “Ophelia,” Rixreturned alone for the encore, on solitary keys, before the brothers Woodreappeared and took their full-throated fans through “Luckiest Man.” As they headed for their paradise at thefinish line of the steamrolling “Snake Eyes,” Oliver summed up the latestwinter installment of The Wood Brothers in Los Angeles. “I don’t care what you say. It’s Friday night now.”
