Show: Chuck Ragan Revival Tour
Date: April 23, 2013
Venue: The El Rey Theatre
City: Los Angeles, CA
Chuck Ragan Revival Tour
Photos by Nicolas Bates
Written by Dan Sinclair
According to Hot Water Music’s Chuck Ragan, folk music is “age-old and the way that families and communities have shared music for hundreds of years.” Chuck is a folk performer in his own right, having released several solo albums on Los Angeles’s SideOneDummy Records. But for Chuck, folk music isn’t really just a one-on-one thing and that’s where he and his wife Jill came up with the idea for the Revival Tour, where several artists share the stage and spotlight in a revolving set of sorts; no one being any more important than the next. Chuck says, “It’s about sharing music together and bringing it to people in an extremely honest and grassroots fashion.”
Things really get going at the El Rey when Mr. Ragan introduces The Loved Ones’ Dave Hause to the stage. Dave doesn’t seem to think the fans are into it enough and yells out, “It’s our last night here—make it fucking count!” and the energetic crowd sings along to “Heavy Heart.” Joe Ginsberg then steps in to play some stand-up bass on “Time Will Tell.” Joe is a regular musician here on the Revival Tour along with fiddle-man Jon Gaunt, who both also accompany Chuck Ragan on his solo albums.
The L.A. crowd roars when Dave tells them tonight “Beats the fuck out of Orange County!” During “C’mon, Kid,” Dave introduces us to a pre-teen from England named Max, who dives into the crowd to surf. Dave urges the crowd to carry him to the bar and return with a whiskey. The crowd does their best to follow orders, but before they can get little Max all the way back to the bar, Dave remembers, “Oh, wait, he’s too young to drink. Bring him back!”
Next up is Alkaline Trio’s Danny Andriano who claims “This tour changed my life.” He plays a few songs including “Hurricane Season,” “Me and Denver,” “Hollow Sounds” and “From This Oil Can,” which he dedicates to his “Wife and daughter sleeping back home.”
Finally, the tour’s mastermind stops playing host and takes the spotlight as Chuck Ragan is joined by his good friends Joe and Jon for “Nothing Left to Prove” and “You Get What You Give.” If you have yet to experience Chuck Ragan live, know this: he has the voice of an angel… a manly, brawlin’, cigarette smokin’, whiskey chuggin’ bad-ass angel.
Chuck’s vocals are so uniquely raspy and passionate he needs not a microphone to be heard as the power of the music comes out powerfully enough from man alone. But this manly man would be nothing without the woman by his side, his lovely wife Jill, whom he thanks for everything and dedicates “Rotterdam” to. He also plays “Right for Rain” and “Bedlam Lullaby” before giving the crowd what they want with great renditions of their two favorite Chuck songs, “The Boat” and “California Burritos,” where he’s joined by the rest of the musicians on stage.
Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath proudly bellows out Chuck’s chorus, “I can’t stand standing for nothing when standing up’s all I know,” and then stays on stage to play the show’s last solo set. He gives the crowd a taste of a few new songs like “What Are We Gonna Do?” and one I believe is called “Dirt and Roses,” and also keeps them satisfied with the familiar Rise Against favorites “Prayer of the Refugee,” “Audience of One,” “Hero of War” and “Everchanging.”
And Tim’s set isn’t even close to the last bit of music of the night as all of the evening’s performers return to stage, each grabbing an instrument of choice, going strong for another seven or eight songs together. And the audience remains just as enthused as the artists for the last of the songs as they were for the first, everybody singing along, clapping and dancing right until the end.
So if you’re up for something a little bit different than your average concert—one with great musicians all collaborating together making beautiful music together—better make sure you catch Mr. Chuck Ragan and his crew next time around on the 2014 Revival Tour. Seriously, punk rockers getting all folky on you all night—what more could you ask for?