Concert review | The Grant Sabin Band, Briffaut & Dogs Days ~ 2013-03-19

Reviewed by: Chuck Miller on March 21, 2113

Local Colorado Springs gal Molly Harris was involved in a serious automobile accident last month and one of her friends put together a concert to generate money to help pay medical bills from treatment of the injures she received in the accident.

The Grant Sabin Band, Briffaut and Dogs Days each played very good sets of music on the Stargazers Theatre stage on Tuesday, March 19, 2013.

I was excited to see Grant Sabin's blues band again. I really enjoyed them the first time I saw them play last summer. I hadn't seen the other two bands, but I knew Inaiah Lugan from the Haunted Windchimes had a side project band that was going to play. I just love the Haunted Windchimes, so I was wondering what this new band sounded like.

After a very heartfelt introduction from one of the concert organizers about the reason for the concert, Inaiah Lugan's Dog Days started with their upbeat 1950's style original "I Don't Wanna". The second song, "Strange Feelings" started out with an instrumental dissonance very much like the Grateful Dead's onstage feedback experiments in the 1960's. The song evolved to have an experimental feel that reminded me of some the best psychedelic music of the 1960's and 1970's. These songs sound different than any new music I hear today. I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed hearing this new music with the decidedly early days of rock and roll vibe to it.

The next two songs, "All Is Dual" and "It's All For You" really reminded me of the Beatles in a good way. Before the next song, "Song For Mal" Lujan gave us a brief introduction to the song where he professed his obsession with the fab four and noted that he wrote the song for one of the Beatles under appreciated roadies named Mal Evans. "Song For Mal" had a very British tavern sing along song quality to it.

Another very good original "Ocean Child" was next. After that, Lujan said, "Speaking of the Beatles..." and the band broke into an amazing cover version of "Don't Let Me Down" from the Beatles Let It Be album. I got goose bumps listening to Lujan channel John Lennon while singing the lead vocal. It was so good! Dog Days ended their short set with a 1950's Roy Orbison style original "Nobody Else" which was also very good.

Up next was Briffaut. This band is made up of all the guys from Dog Days minus Lujan and Sam Erickson. I honestly don't know what to make of their set. Under Lujan's direction, this group of guys played some really nice, stylized and involving music. Without Lujan, their style was more subdued with some good dynamics. But, their songs didn't grab me and involve me the same way the Dog Days material did.

I had seen The Grant Sabin Band before, so I knew to expect a set of intense driving blues rock. Sabin and the band didn't disappoint either! They started with the original rocker "Circumnavigator" followed by a very good mid tempo original titled "Newton's Apple." I instantly recognized "Temptress" when that song started as I heard them play it the last time I saw the band. A couple more originals were followed by a stirring rendition of Skip James "Devil Got My Woman" where Sabin and the band joined by Inaiah Lugan on guitar really got the slow methodical blues going.

Lujan stay on stage playing guitar during "Iron Horses" > "Rice Farm Head" which ended the set and the night on a good note around 10:30 PM.

It was a short, but very enjoyable night of music. I left wanting to see Inaiah Lujan's Dog Days again. Hopefully they will gain a following and play out again soon.

All photos © Chuck Miller