Photo & video from the 2009 Christmas tour

Thanks! Nice to follow this christmas tour here on the board.

Can't wait to watch those peeteycat, thanks for posting them!! And... it was so great to meet you Friday night!!

My photos from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andihazelwood/sets/72157623039540342/

Honey Man @ the Gibson Friday:



Lonely Avenue is forthcoming. I only got two songs because I was at the front of the pit and security was watching closely...

More photos and videos from LA! http://www.flickr.com/photos/eaten/sets/72157622906144545/

Even MORE! http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannyelfmanssecret/sets/72157622906132477/

Third time's a charm... my video of Lonely Avenue finally uploaded This is also Friday night at the Gibson (I didn't shoot any video or take any photos on Saturday, when everyone was really cooking. Figures.) Near the end you can see a guard come up and tell me I can't record... so I put the camera down on the fence railing. But I didn't turn it off till the end of the song

Fishnet Stockings from the Gibby:



Surfin' Trombones from the Gibby:

Wow! They just keep comin'! Blue Christmas at the Gibby!

Oh man! It would appear Lavay Smith opened at the Warfield in SF last night! Dang!!!!

Guitarist swings with Xmas spirit

After first making his mark as the charismatic frontman and guitar wizard for rockabilly revivalists the Stray Cats during the early '80s, Brian Setzer turned his attention to the jump blues and swing sounds he loved growing up with the 18-piece Brian Setzer Orchestra.

The group's self-titled debut recording full of standards and potent originals set the stage for the '90s swing movement that found such bands as Royal Crown Revue and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy rising to widespread popularity.

With two holiday-themed albums to the group's credit, it makes perfect sense for Setzer and his 18-piece orchestra (with no less than 13 horn players) to don Santa hats for their seventh annual "Christmas Rocks!" tour that mixes boogie-woogie takes on Christmas classics with swinging showcases for Setzer's ample guitar skills.

Though the guitarist was briefly hospitalized in Albuquerque after a combination of dehydration, high altitude, and vertigo made him unable to continue his performance at the Isleta Casino, Setzer has completely recovered and will continue with the remainder of the tour uninterrupted. Local favorite Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers with her own selection of holiday standards.

Brian Setzer/Lavay Smith at the Warfield - looks like Lavay replaced RCR at the last minute. The article includes photos, and RMC, there's a photo of the setlist too!!!! Um.... since when is Mark Winchester back in the band?!!?!?

I emailed a friend talking about how I was about to see Brian Setzer, and she responded, “is he still around?” Well, thank goodness he is, because last week he collapsed on stage, makimg me wonder if the tour would go on. It got me looking him up on Wikipedia to see that he’s 50 years old, and that it was 15 years ago that he put out the first Brian Setzer Orchestra CD. He’s had a long and varied career, and he’s definitely still around. So how’s he holding up?

Lavay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers were the opening band, a late replacement for the Royal Crown Revue. The local swing legends got the crowd moving right away, and ended their short but sweet set with a rousing rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

After a quick break for a changeover, Brian Setzer’s band walked on stage, with masks on, and began to play the Batman theme song (from the Adam West Batman). Setzer himself walked on stage, finished up the song, and the show was on. This was advertised as a Christmas show, and the music was about 50% big band Christmas music, 50% big band rockabilly. It was, though, 100% good.

It’s weird to write a review of a show and have absolutely nothing negative to say about it. The big 17-piece backing band sounded amazing, looked spectacular, and constantly did mild choreography as they played their parts. The setlist was a masterful blend of Christmas favorites, Stray Cats classics, and a couple of new songs thrown in for good measure. There were fun moments like when the trombone section came to the front of the stage to play The Ventures surf rock classic, “Pipe Line.”

And it was a great crowd, too. When Setzer said, “we have a new album,” there was no audible groan; no running to the bathroom. The fans stayed to dance to “Trouble Train” from Lonely Avenue, which he proudly announced had been nominated for a Grammy.

Even a good show has its best moments, and in this show, it was when a curtain came down in front of the big band, leaving Brian Setzer alone with his rhythm section, Tony Pia on drums and Mark Winchester on bass, to play a snappy set as a rockabilly trio. This set had more guitar histrionics than other parts of the set, featured a stand-up bass player standing on his bass (never gets old), and some vocal help from two singers lovingly referred to as “vixens” on the printed setlist (seen below).

The trio took a big group bow, but then stayed on stage to play “Rock This Town.” The longtime concertgoer in me knew that the curtain was going to rise at some point during the song as the big band would join them again. And that’s just what happened, as the band had changed outfits as well, and finished up the main set. Only Setzer left for the encore break, with the band leading the cheers for his return.

When he came back on stage, he was given a giant piece of sheet music, which he explained was the music for Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. And so it was. When this was finished, a lengthy and joyful rendition of “Jump Jive an’ Wail” followed, as expected, and the night ended up with Jingle Bells, as Santa came on stage tossing candy canes as it began to snow in the Warfield. Granted, it was snow made of soapy foam, but it still made a festive end to a great show.

Thanks Andi!
This looks great!

BTW, I've already sent Randy the set in Thackerville OK... short set list unfortunatelly, same as in Coachella.

Hi Andi,

I wrote the review you posted here. I got the name of the bass player from Wikipedia, so I may have gotten it wrong. I'd love to correct it, though. Who's playing bass on this tour?

Dorgon wrote:

Hi Andi,

I wrote the review you posted here. I got the name of the bass player from Wikipedia, so I may have gotten it wrong. I'd love to correct it, though. Who's playing bass on this tour?

John Hatton, nickname "spazz"
http://www.jumpingfrom6to6.com/itv_johnny_spazz_hatton.htm

Hey cool, thanks for joining us here! John "Spazz" Hatton has been playing bass for the Orchestra for a while now - damned Wikipedia!

oops, Tavo beat me to it!

Thanks for helping me out. I've updated the post.

My wife and I attended the concert at the Warfield last night, which, needless to say, was awesome. We bought the meet and greet package, which included getting to meet Brian, a backstage tour, "Backstage Pass" lanyards that literally gave us free reign of the place, and a bunch of free stuff. It was a little pricey, but I would still recommend it for any fans.

Here's a pic of the wife and I with The Man.



I've always heard Brian was one of the nicest guys around, and he really is. I got to tell him that he was my guitar idol (while trying not to look like a total wuss ), that I started playing Gretsch guitars because of him, etc., and he seemed genuinely touched. He then reached into his pocket, handed me one of his signature picks and said "put that onto your Gretsch next time." He then signed our passes and program stuff. I was thrilled. We talked with him for another five or ten minutes before going out and taking our seats.

I took tons and tons of pics. I got pics of his amp settings, equipment, etc., and will post more later. I also spent a while with the road guy who is in charge of his guitars, and he happily answered all of my pestering guitar questions.

Overall, I'd give the show a perfect score. We had a blast.

Met the Man at the Warfield in SF last night!! I cried like a baby the moment he was in sight. The man has made my lifetime! I can't express how ecstatic I was to meet him and to tell him thank you for all he's done for me over the last 11 years since I discovered him and the Cats. It's changed (and saved) my life, and for that, I can't wait to post pics of the autographed tat I'm getting in the next few days!!!
Hope these aren't too many pics.








I'm off to pamper my achin' cheeks cuz I can't seem to wipe this fat smile off my face.

~Fuz

That last pic looks kind of familiar.



Here's another one that came out well.

Hahahaha, those are awesome!! From where I was standing, it was very hard for me to get my camera to focus well. The lights behind him and the band were just killing my focus and then when they broke down into 3 pieces, the cymbals (sp??) were right in front of the drummer's face making it just OH SO FUN to get a good picture of him. I can't wait to see more shots as this thread grows. ^_^

~Fuz

Andi wrote:

The article includes photos, and RMC, there's a photo of the setlist too!!!!

Nice find, Andi. Thanks again for all your help.

You too Slim - thanks for sending in the Thackerville setlist.

Great shots of the Warfield show everyone!

Recently posted shots from the Ryman in Nashville:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35840215@N02/sets/72157622934643349/

This is precious. Dig the boots on the little Setzer:

After the Meet & Greet in Las Vegas, I ran upstairs to my room at the Hard Rock and pitched my "good" camera, purse and all my merch onto the bed before the Setzer show started, then rushed back to the Joint. I realized once I was in my seat that duh... I didn't have my point and shoot with me to get any photos or video during the performance. It was in my purse. Damn!!! With only 5 minutes to go I didn't have time to run back and get it without hurting myself. So unfortunately I have NOTHING to share from the Vegas show (other than a few more meet 'n' greet pics, which will be forthcoming). But I found these!









From what I remember, this is the first time on the whole tour I've seen him wear the black suit (with non-leather pants ), red shirt and boots - I think he looked hotter'n hell, personally. But then, when don't I think that??

Enjoy!!

That silver suit Setzer is wearing is pretty cool. I love it. It has style.

SetzzzersDream wrote:

A user posted a few non-Christmas tunes from Vegas: