January 8, 2005: Jon Goes to the Dogs

Walnut Creek, CA
Dean Lesher Center for the Performing Arts
"Stars to the Rescue" Benefit for the Animal Rescue Foundation

It was a dark and stormy night... well, okay, it was still daylight when I left the house and the rain had stopped for the moment, but it was a generally icky January day as I drove across the bay to catch a rare solo performance by Jonathan Cain. He was appearing at the 14th annual "Stars to the Rescue" show benefiting the Animal Rescue Foundation. The bill was eclectic with everything from ballet to country music to comedy to acoustic rock and roll.

I was at the show with one of my JPP partners in crime Leslie and her husband Todd, and we had very good seats in the center of the balcony. (Floor seats being a bit too pricey for our budgets.) We settled in to watch the first half of the show which opened with highlights of the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals season. Such things probably went over a bit better when ARF founder Tony LaRussa was the manager for the Oakland A's, but whoever put it together at least had the good sense not to feature any highlights that might have come at the expense of the San Francisco Giants. The show moved from there to a dance performance, country performer Julie Roberts, and a riotous performance by comedian Vicki Lawrence. The first half of the show ended with an acoustic performance by Kevin Cronin and Dave Amato who put a different spin on the familiar REO tunes.

Jon was to be the first performer up after intermission and the awards presentations to special ARF supporters. We stayed in our seats during intermission and watched as the crew brought out a grand piano for his performance (no, not The Whale, just a plain black Yamaha piano.) After the awards were given out, Tony LaRussa introduced Jon, and he came out on stage joined by a dozen girls from the San Ramon High School Choir. He opened his set with "Back to the Innocence" and then introduced a song he dedicated to "all the pet dogs that have passed" called "Man's Best Friend." During the song ARF volunteers came on stage with a number of dogs that are used in their Visiting Animals Program -- a program that brings dogs and cats to residents of assisted living centers. He followed that up with a medley of Journey tunes which were interesting to hear in slightly different arrangements than we are accustomed to. He closed out the 30-minute set with "Best of What I Got" backed by "The All-Star Band" that was used throughout the show.

Jon was followed by Anastasia Barzee, a Broadway actress, and the show closed with Vince Gill and Amy Grant. Not being a huge country fan, I was only vaguely familiar with their work (and Amy more so due to a cousin being a fan of hers) but they put on a fun, loose set backed by the All-Star Band. Vince Gill was particularly amusing saying he would have been a rocker "if I weren't so fat. Could you imagine my butt in spandex??" The highlight of their performance, however, was the Grammy-nominated song "It's Hard To Kiss The Lips At Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long." It sounds like your stereotypical country tune, but is one of the funniest things I've heard in a very long time and the crowd loved it.

The show ended with all the performers returning to the stage and closing out the show with Vince Gill leading in a doubly appropriate performance of "Hound Dog" (Saturday would have been Elvis's 70th birthday.)

Jon's Set list:

Back to the Innocence
Man's Best Friend
Journey Medley:
-- Lights
-- Faithfully
-- Open Arms
-- Who's Crying Now
-- Separate Ways
-- Send Her My Love
-- When You Love a Woman
-- Don't Stop Believin'
Best of What I Got

Kevin Cronin/Dave Amato Set list:

Ridin' the Storm Out
Can't Fight This Feeling
Take it on the Run
Music Man
Roll with the Changes