NSN Ian McLagan; Pat Buchanan 2-22-09

This was a night of two of rock's finest musicians, one a top-notch guitarist and the other a legendary keyboardist. First up was Pat Buchanan, a Nashville institution since moving here in 1993, making a return visit to NSN. He's in demand as a session guitarist and staff songwriter and even won the ACM for Guitar Player of the Year on 2006. But we know he's really a rocker, not country, and as usual, his firey playing and his set list tonight proved it:

Co-co-nut
The Luckiest Girl
Genius Of The Universe
Every Time You're With Me
Under The Sun
Baby Blue (Badfinger cover)
Christina
Smile On My Face
Atomic Fireball

When they finished, I told Pat that went by too quickly and he said yes, it seemed like about ten minutes instead of forty. But Pat was glad to give way to one of his idols, the great Ian McLagan.
Ian, or "Mac" as he's often called, is a genuine dyed-in-the-wool rock & roller, a member of the great bands Small Faces and The Faces. Over the past 4 decades, he's toured and recorded with rock royalty like The Stones, Dylan and Springsteen just to mention a few. It's his electric piano playing on The Faces' "Stay With Me" and The Rolling Stones' "Miss You." It's his hammond B3 on "Itchycoo Park," "Maggie May" and "You Wear It Well." He lives in Austin, Texas now and in recent years has been carrying on his genuine rock and roll with his group The Bump Band, which currently includes Jud Newcomb on guitar, Don Harvey on drums and Mark Andes on bass. Mark has his own impressive resume. Nashville fans will remember him from Firefall, Heart and several other great groups. Ian McLagan and the Bump Band is about as close as you can get these days to seeing The Faces themselves. This night proved to me that even though The Faces was filled with legendary names like Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood and the late Ronnie Lane (who Ian obviously had great affection and admiration for), Ian McLagan must have been the soul of that band. I kept thinking all night if Rod Stewart would just cover Ian's songs, he'd make an album all rock & rollers could love again. The setlist:

I Will Follow
I'm Hot You're Cool *
You're My Girl
Date With An Angel
Loverman
Glad & Sorry
Little Girl
Never Say Never *
A Little Black Number
You're So Rude
Spiritual Babe
Little Troublemaker

After we went off the air they played three more, including finally, an unplanned "Cindy Incidentally," one of my all-time favorite Faces songs. Ian answered the questions about the rumours of a Faces reunion this year, by saying he doesn't know what will happen, that they rehearsed and it was fun, but he doesn't know what will come of it, he's still waiting for the phone to ring. Meanwhile, he's happy to be making great music with The Bump Band, and that's a good thing for all of us. Rock on, Mac!