Ian McLagan
We went to a charity benefit concert last Thursday, and one of the groups was Ian McLagan & The Bump Band.Some of you are floored right now, but more of you (especially if you're younger than I am) may never have heard of Ian McLagan.
Well, he's a musical legend, and "legend" should be in all caps. He played in both the Small Faces and the Faces, and he's a renowned keyboard player and songwriter.
Who were The Faces? Ian McLagan, Ronnie Wood (later of the Rolling Stones), Rod Stewart (later of, well, Rod Stewart), Ronnie Lane (who recorded two brilliant albums with Pete Townshend), and Kenny Jones (later of The Who)--one of the strongest band line-ups in history.
Consider this: at a time when the four greatest bands in the world were The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and The Who, both the Rolling Stones and The Who, at various times, wanted McLagan to join their band.
Plus, in a strange twist, McLagan wound up marrying Keith Moon's ex-wife, Kim, although since they were married for almost thirty years (she was killed in a car accident in 2006), it would probably be more accurate to say that Keith Moon married Ian McLagan's future wife.
So that's who Ian McLagan is, and I felt very fortunate to see him play live. He's 64 now, and I wondered how much vitality he had left, or if this was going to be one of those "old legends weakly delivers" set.
Well, in short: he dominated. He absolutely CRUSHED his set and was completely on top of his game. He writes complex, beautifully layered songs that are both witty and poignant, and even with all that, they still manage to rock. He received a standing ovation at the end of his set from what was generally a very lethargic crowd.
Here's the MySpace music page for his band: Ian McLagan and the Bump Band.
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