:D

thank you to kaykay & cindy for these pix! yesterday's birthday show for vince jordan at long beach's house of hayden started out with an acoustic set by bernie pearl, then an on-the-fly mini-acoustic set by whiteboy james, scott abeyta & i. (james, who has near-eidetic memory, threw in jb lenoir's "don't touch my head," which i'd just played for him that morn for the 1st time!) this was followed by two powerful sets by WB james & the blues express, who put on the happiest, least aggressive show i've ever seen him do, then some high-energy johnny burnette/r&r trio from eddie nichols, & finally "rock boppin baby" & "american music" from the blasters, who swept in & out at the last moment. i've not heard phil alvin's voice sound so strong for quite some time -- strange, what with his recent health scare in spain that required tracheotomy! james commented, "yeah, he sounds better than me!", but that was not true at all, just james being typically gracious toward a friend. he told me they've made shirts that read "flat-line phil" to commemorate PA's near-death. :D ... vince's girlfriend sharon, who organized the whole party, is a production manager for a shoe designer: how interesting to hear about her job! i brought up the movie "kinky boots" & she told me that her company actually is making the shoes for the upcoming broadway adaptation of the film, which i thought quite a coincidence! she had "backstage pass" lanyards made as party souvenirs as well as shirts reading "vince: est. 1962" for his many closest friends... food (& cookies!) was delicious, company friendly & happy, the bar overflowing, the day fun & joyful, w/only a few small exceptions...