Live: Jessica Lea Mayfield

Friday, 20 February, 2009 @ Muddy Waters, Haley St, Santa Barbara, CA...

Jessica Lea Mayfield and her band returned to Santa Barbara to rock the tiny Haley St. venue known as Muddy Waters, courtesy of the good folks at Club Mercy. They made the most of the middle of the bill, between 'What Laura Says' and 'The Annuals', forcing me to throw a caveat on my assessment of her record in the previous post concerning best records of '08. Yes, the record is a quiet, moody gem from a forthright young lady, but when it comes to the live situation, she came to rock.
The band, featuring her brother David on bass, guitarist Richie Kirkpatrick, and drummer Anne Lillis, hailing mostly from the Akron/Kent area, add depth & balls to the songs, without sacrificing any of the emotion & longing...
Footage below is dim, (we're not talking light show here...), but terribly up close & personal, i.e. dig the bro next to me enjoying his beer...Hopefully this captures the spirit of the proceedings.

My 'cliff notes' example would be the very first time I saw Lucinda Williams live, expecting some blues country numbers, and having my doors blown off; she tapped her inner Keith Richards...Miss Mayfield is not quite in the same ballpark w/Lu, but I'm on board for wherever she's headed next...




They kicked off with 'We've Never Lied', with the unforgettable chorus of "I'll talk to whoever i goddamn want to..." perking up the attendant ears, and setting the tone for what followed, including, (above), 'I'm Not Lonely Anymore'.



The place started packing in good, and, (above), 'Bible Days', (a line from which furnished the album with it's title), got a feature spot, and a nice sonic goose from the band. She's missing in the pictures, but look for the perky drummer Anne Lillis, taking care of business in the back, (far left).

Towards the end of the set, they tossed in a heartfelt cover of Buddy Holly's 'Words of Love', then brought it home with the highlight of the night, 'I Can't Lie To You, Love', (below), transforming the slinky number; when cheering begins at the false ending, they bludgeon home the rest of the song, totally transcending the album version, and blowing the crowd away.



They finished off the night with a strong take on 'For Today', making their point, and living to fight another day...the week saw them play the Casbah in San Diego, and the Troubador in LA, before this stop...After the show they'd be driving all night to San Francisco for a gig at Slim's on Saturday. I have a feeling they'll be headlining the next time I see them...