A sold out crowd enjoyed a quick show by Dave Alvin along with Guilty Woman Christie McWilson and  Guilty Man Chris Miller at the Geomatic Attic, March 22.
As promised he played songs from his time with the ’80s roots rockers the Blasters, a lot of solo material, some of his favourite songwriters like Tom Russell and of course  several tracks from his new CD ‘Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women.’
Alvin and Miller took the stage right at 8 p.m. and played straight through until  close to 10 p.m.
In between fighting with tuning his guitar, Alvin told stories about hanging out with his brother Phil  around dingy Los Angeles clubs listening to blues legends like Big Joe Turner and Howlin’ Wolf, talking to them and learning how to play from them  while growing up in the early ’70s. These stories were excellent preambles to some of the blues infused highlights including “Boss of the Blues” off the new CD and another song, one of the best of the night ‘Ashgrove’ which was about one of these places. He could have ended there as it gave me and most of the audience goosebumps.
It was a pretty laid back show punctuated by stories and jokes, but the other highlight was anytime he let Chris Miller loose on the guitar to knock off some southern California twang, which was fantastic.
Christie McWilson added some beautiful harmony vocals and some nifty dance moves.
To wind down  the set, in a rare serious moment,  they played a touching song from the new CD ‘Bury Me In Potter’s Field’ which they sent out to Guilty Woman Amy Farris and Chris Gaffney, both of whom passed away within the past couple years. The dedication had McWilson choking back a few tears and Alvin looking  a little blue. Someone brought an old 1982 record  by the Dynette Set featuring McWilson when she was a kid, whcih shocked her, so she snatched it away.
 Alvin and Miller traded solos with each other and they ended the show with an upbeat version of ’Marie Marie.’