Diego's Umbrella @ The Siren

While we are preparing for the Korea trip, here is a quick report of  Diego's Umbrella concert at the Siren in Morro Bay, which took place yesterday.  We heard the Umbrellas make the announcement about this concert during their July 12 show on the Plaza in San Luis.

This was the second time we went to The Siren for a Diego's Umbrella concert, and both times it felt like pretty much a friends-and-family kind of event. This time, the crowd was not large, but this was hardly an issue, as after starting with a somewhat unusual to my ear rendition of  Trash Mexican Budapest (my favorite song of theirs), they very quickly got their groove and played a brilliant (as always) show.

Diego's Umbrella: Trash Mexican Budepest

The opening act was  Domestic Tiger, a SLO band that includes a local ex-Umbrella Tyson Maulhardt.  Three guitar front line and all the noise one can expect from it, although from time to time Tyson would let himself go and switch from riffs to solos

Tyson Maulhardt: now with Domestic Tiger.

Some songs reminded me of The Cure. I got a couple of their CDs, which they were giving away, and listened to most of their album Half Life in the car today. I could make out the lyrics and the  music better than at the concert, but overall - same impression.  Now I have to look for their local gig announcements. 

Domestic Tiger: three guitars and all the noise you might expect them to produce.

Diego's Umbrella came without Kevin (they eventually announced from the stage that he just had a baby born), who was replaced by a guitar player whose name I did not catch, but who was presented as "The Bay Area guitar virtuoso". 

Diego's Umbrella: the replacement guitar player.

As a result, I feel like the play list was pared down a bit, filled with individual performances (two by Jason, Jake's spoons, and a couple more), and avoided some of the songs. Vaughan had to sing all parts by himself. They did perform new songs on which Kevin sings lead (Never Take Us Down, and Born to Lead, I think), and, of course, they sang the usual: Bor'ka, Lasers and Lesbians, Queens of Vibration. 

Diego's Umbrella: in the middle of a song.

The full band instrumentals included Swayze and Korobeiniki (which everyone except for us in the audience knew only as "that Tetris song") but - I think for the first time since we started going to their shows - no Hava Nagila.  The lack of the latter did not prevent one lady from the audience from yelling happily from time to time "They are Jewish!" 

Jason's violin number.

Finally, instead of "the one song we do not want to play and you do not want to listen" (per Vaughan), the band presented a scene from their "favorite" movie Team America - starting and ending it with "America, fuck YEAH!"  This was unexpected and quite funny.

Diego's Umbrella performing a scene from Team America.

The bottom line is, despite the somewhat unusual lineup and set list, it was a really fun show. 

Jake Wood and the spoons.

With this, we are starting to slowly switch to the Korea trip that is coming up in exactly one week.