Michelle Shocked Review of 10/19/1996 El Rey Theatre (Los Angeles, CA) Show

Published October 22, 1996, in Daily Variety
Reprinted without permission.

By Todd Everett
Michelle Shocked and the Casualties of Wah
Pony Stars

Michelle Shocked and the Casualties of Wah; Pony Stars (El Rey 
Theater, L.A.; 700 seats; $ 18) Promoted by Goldenvoice. Bands: 
(Shocked) Richard Susumu Armstrong, Michael Rinta, Carl Wheeler 
Jr., Jamie Lee Brewer, Joel Smith; (Pony Stars) Max Konrad 
Johnston; Herbert Joseph Rieth III, Andrew William Mason. 
Reviewed Oct. 19, 1996. 

Fresh from a fight to be released from her former label, Michelle 
Shocked made what can be only called a triumphant performance at 
the El Rey. The battle with Mercury Records had been over artistic 
freedom; from Saturday's show, it looks like she's planning on 
exercising it plenty, now that she's pacted with Private Music.
Previous albums have seen Shocked transmute from a folkie with 
acoustic guitar to the horn-laden "Captain Swing" to the rustic 
"Arkansas Traveler."

A two-year resident of New Orleans, she's working these days 
with a band performing in that city's characteristic R&B style, 
with a repertoire of songs entirely her own though at least one 
number was written with premier New Orleans composer-producer 
Allen Toussaint. The terrific band, curiously, is from Oakland, 
a city not noted for its second-line swagger.

Shocked's set (a Springsteenian three hours long) consisted, to 
a great extent, on material she hasn't recorded for either label: 
she performed only three numbers from her four Mercury albums, 
and didn't intro a single song from her new "Kind Hearted Woman" 
until the 90-minute mark. A couple of songs, notably "Little 
Billie" (about a Crescent City club owner who sings like Billie 
Holiday) were performed during Shocked's recent brief set opening 
for the Chieftains at the Universal Amphitheater; here, with a 
full band, the sound was even more powerful. A belting singer, 
Shocked is also an above-par writer: the torchy "Why Do I Get the 
Feeling" would be a highlight of anybody's set, and "I'm a Lucky 
Dog" is a witty gospel song written from the titular canine's 
point of view. And, it (like many of the songs, even the new ones) 
resulted in fairly spontaneous audience participation; always a 
good sign. "Kind Hearted Woman" is a downbeat affair; somehow, 
though, the mini-set (played mostly without the band) worked: 
Shocked had no trouble keeping an audience, most of whom were on 
their feet, respectfully quiet when appropriate. Of her vintage 
songs, the reflective "Anchorage" (with her brother, Max Johnston, 
of the show-opening acoustic trio Pony Stars joining in on fiddle) 
drew the greatest response; the up tempo "If Love Were a Train" 
also went down well. The set closed on the upbeat, with a disco-
styled number, and a generic New Orleans Indian chant of the "Iko 
Iko" stripe. The whole thing, reflective and depressing songs 
included, was a damned impressive affair. Who in the room would 
have told Michelle Shocked that she couldn't cover any artistic 
ground she wanted?