Gregg Henry at Genghis CohenBruce Greenwood's gig with Gregg Henry turned out to be a double header for fans who attended. He also appeared about an hour later at Canter's - a quite reknowned restaurant with a cozy little bar where fans were treated to three songs featuring Bruce as lead singer. Five fans were present at the Genghis Cohen gig: Pamela McKay, Emiko Kamidoi, Kris Rice, Gayle Watson and Lisa Pease, while three made the trek to Canter's: Pamela, Kris and Gayle. A report from Pamela follows:
from Pamela McKay:
I jetted down to Los Angeles from San Francisco expecting to see Bruce perform with Gregg Henry at Genghis Cohen, but was given a double treat when Bruce informed me he was also going to be at Canter's for a midnight show.
Gregg, of course, presented us with another great evening of entertainment. There were a lot of new (to me) songs this time and the evening felt a bit more serious than on other occassions, but I like that side of Gregg a lot anyway, and it's the side he shares with Bruce, I suspect. As funny as they both can be, it's that introspective side that seems to inspire their music . Bruce sang five songs with Gregg, and looking over Gayle's notes from January, some were repeats for them, but quite new for me. Bruce's backup songs were "Any Fool Can Get Lucky," the familiar but achingly beautiful "Something for the Pain," the new Western song "Saddle Up and Ride," Gregg's hit, "The Back of Your Hand," and they finished up with "Baby You Win." It was great to see Bruce really belting out his bluesy background vocals and sections seemed to feature him more than usual. He'd confided in me just before he went on that he was really nervous because Gregg had redone the harmony for "Something for the Pain" just that afternoon. He needn't have worried; it was a beautiful performance. But probably the high point was the softly rendered homage to the West, "Saddle Up and Ride." Bruce is well featured in the song and it was so sweetly rendered that you could feel how much he was enjoying himself. As it concluded he whispered into the mike, "I LOVE that song!" Yes, we could feel it, Bruce. It should also be mentioned that Gregg gaved Bruce full credit for his part in bringing about the success of "The Back of Your Hand." These two have a wonderfully warm and sincere friendship, full of affection and common respect. It's always a pleasure to watch them together.
The place was absolutely packed, so I hardly got a chance to speak with Bruce this time. He was there alone and told me that Susan was home with the flu, but he did introduce me to Laura Lee Hughes - the founder of "The Unusual Suspects," the theater group for inner city kids that's one of Bruce's favorite charities and the one we chose to honor for his birthday gift this year. Bruce was besieged by friends and fans from every direction before and after the actual show, but at the conclusion of the gig he did tell me that he was doing ANOTHER gig down the street if I was up for it. The second show was supposed to start at 11:30pm and Bruce was expecting to join them around midnight.
Three of us decided to go on to Canter's, where we had the pleasure of watching Bruce perform in a more up front and personal way than I've ever experienced before. The group he was working with was headed by another actor and details on them will follow, as soon as I've verified the group's name and five participants. I can tell you the drummer / actor was their leader and in addition to an harmonica player and keyboardist included two excellent guitarists.
We had some trouble finding seats, but a nice waiter helped us bring chairs in from the dining room, and we therefore found ourselves directly in front of the band at a miniscule round table - nice to observe, but heavy on the ears. ;-) Bruce came in about midnight, but the band hadn't yet begun, so he joined them onstage to chat a bit. Spotting us at a nearby table he came directly over to thank us for coming. He told us he needed to find a place to tune his guitar, which was still in its case. In the end, the place was so crowded he joined a couple with a large table to put it all together. I think they were pleased to help out.
The group sang about five songs before introducing Bruce. They introduced him as "coming straight from a gig at Genghis Cohen," with no mention of his actor status, which kind of amused me. This was definitely Bruce's music world. Bruce joined them with his guitar, and he was facing us, so it was a really unique treat to watch and experience Bruce as lead singer. I didn't recognize any of the songs and Bruce hasn't had time to get back to me with what they were, but all were bluesy. I did ask him after the gig and he laughed that the middle one was completely made up on the spot. I hope to have more on all that later.
Bruce came directly over to give me a kiss of thanks for coming and to shake Kris and Gayle's hands as he left the stage. And about five minutes later he popped up beside us again to tell us he was "going home to his sick wife." I got another very sweet kiss - I'm sure he was delighted we'd made the effort to get there - before he left for the night.
We stayed until the band broke for a break, then quietly left. We ran into them on the street though as they quietly smoked till it was time to go back inside. They all thanked us for coming, totally aware we had been there for Bruce. I thought that was a nice gesture.
I can't even begin to explain how special it felt to see Bruce perform that night. I'd never seen him so "exposed" as a musician before. It was an honor to have been there.
| Gregg Henry at Genghis Cohen |