On Stage: May sparks explosion of live shows locally

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times

Traditionally, bands and other entertainment acts tend to go out on the road much less during winter.

Additionally, potential audience members frequently are content to stay home on a cold winter night rather than heading out to catch a show.

Bands also have to be aware of the negative aspect of touring in the winter – especially dealing with brutally cold weather and road hazards such as icy surfaces.

Welcome Spring! Welcome May!

The schedules at area venues are packed with attractive shows. As a result, music lovers once again venture out to enjoy live performances.

May is the breakout month.

May is the month when national and regional acts get on the road and populate venues’ rosters.

On almost any given night, the odds are good that there will be a show that matches your taste.

Here’s a look at what the area venues have in store for music fans in the month of May.

Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) is hosting “Meters: A Tribute to the Meters” on May 3, “The Legendary Kennett Flash Open Mic Night” with Rachel May on May 4 and Cat Ridgeway and the Tourists with Friend of a Friend on May 7 and Dan Navarro on May 8.

Navarro became familiar to a lot of listeners not so much as a solo artist but more as one-half of the popular duo Lowen & Navarro.

Lowen & Navarro was a songwriting team composed of David Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro, who met in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s.

They wrote the song “We Belong,” which became a major hit for Pat Benatar in 1984.  They became active as a performing group in 1987. In 1990, they began to release a number of records of their own, including “Learning to Fall” and “Purpose.”

In March 2004, Lowen was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Because of compromises to his playing and singing, Lowen ceased touring.

The duo played its last shows in June 2009. Lowen died of complications of ALS on March 23, 2012 at the age of 60.

After a career spanning decades and a dozen albums with Lowen & Navarro, Navarro released his first true studio-recorded solo album, “Shed My Skin.” It was recorded and produced by Steve Postell and released in spring 2019.

“I was determined to write everything alone,” said Navarro. “It took some adjusting after writing for 20 years in a partnership. I went in with the 12 songs we used. The 12 songs include eight originals, a few obscure covers and a standard thrown in.”

“Horizon Line,” his most recent  album, was produced by multiple Grammy®-winner Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Wilco, Dixie Chicks, as well as the first five Lowen&Navarro albums) in a dozen sessions in mid-2021 and a dozen more in spring 2022

Navarro’s career started as a songwriter — most often with Lowen — for artists as diverse as Pat Benatar, The Bangles, Jackson Browne, Dave Edmunds, The Temptations, Dionne Warwick, The Triplets, Marco Borsato, and Rusty Weir.

“I’ve been in L.A. since high school,” said Navarro. “I grew up in Calexico (CA) and went to UCLA to study music. I moved to L.A. in 1969.”

Navarro has transitioned smoothly into a busy solo career over the past decade, touring nationally almost constantly.

He has a parallel career as a voice actor and singer in films such as “Pirates of the Caribbean 5,” “The Book Of Life,” “Rio,” “Happy Feet,” and “The Lorax” and TV work on variety of shows including “Family Guy” and “American Dad.”

Navarro has also been the voice of video games “Fallout 4” and “Uncharted 4,” and hundreds of TV ads for Subaru, Shakey’s, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Honda, Nationwide and more.

Video link for Dan Navarro — https://youtu.be/VXVw–kViXc.

The show at Kennett Flash on May 8 will start at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $30

The Flash schedule for the rest of May is: 9, Kennett Metal Night; 10, Abby Gardner; 16, Highway Run; 17, Three Ton (with special guest RJD Band);18 Dale Melton Trio; 23, Hive Mind, Ephemera and Sam & the Vampire; 29, Dave Mattock with Funktrap; 30, Comedy Writes Showdown; 31, Tom Hampton with special guest Jack Murray.

Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org) will host Better Than Bacon on May 8.

Better Than Bacon Improv is a short form improv comedy troupe based in West Chester. BTB performs short skits and games based on audience suggestions, often inviting audience members on stage.

Improv comedy is a one-time only performance without scripts or nets. What audiences experience in one show will never be seen again.

The spontaneity of improv makes improvisational comedy one of the most challenging forms of comedy.

BTB’s current troupe members hail from all over the Philly suburbs including Malvern, Exton, West Chester, Kennett Square, Media, Swarthmore, Wilmington and Phoenixville.

The troupe’s artistic backgrounds include improv, acting, stand-up comedy, and music.

The cast includes comedians Lauren Henry, Bob Curran, Jack Dibeler, Brett Heller, Lauren Burawski, Sarah Hennessey, Susan Price, Greg Faber, Dan Freed, David James, Jessica Berzon, Marielle Latrick and Kevin O’Connell.

“We’ve been together professionally since 2011,” said Henry, during a phone interview from her home in West Chester.

The cast members all live in Chester County except for a few in Delaware County and Wilmington.

“It started with a bunch of us meeting at Chester County Night School in West Chester,” said Henry.

“We got to be friends, took classes and picked up more people. We decided to start our own troupe and found a director. The committed people stayed.

“We had our first gig at Kennett Flash in June 2011. We have regular dates at Uptown, Kennett Flash and Media Arts Council. We play mostly in Chester County and northern and central Delaware.”

In a fashion similar to the TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” the members of the troupe make up every single word and perform every single action completely on-the-spot…and it’s all driven by audience suggestions. Every show is a brand-new experience.

“We have 15-16 games in a show,” said Henry, who graduated from York College with a degree in radio and television communication. “It’s like ‘Whose Line Is It?” We call one of the sketches ‘the guessing game.’”

“Everything we do in our shows is spontaneous,” said Henry. “It’s a very interactive show. Everything we do is based on audience suggestion.”

Video link for Better Than Bacon – https://youtu.be/MqL-yeOjtCE.

The show at the Uptown will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25.

Better Than Bacon will also have its 14th Anniversary Show on June 13 at the Kennett Flash.

Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center will also present Chelsea Reed and the Fairweather Five on May 15; the Laugh Lounge at Uptown on May 22; The Philly Keys on May 29; and a comedy night with headliner Heather Shaw and opener Leah Knauer.

Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985,www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) jumps into the first week of May with Doctor Harmonica and Rocket 88 on May 1; Memphis Lightning on May 2, the Blacktails on May 3 and the Philly Blues Kings with Clarence Spady on May 4.

The schedule for the rest of May at JHOM is: 8, The Fabulous Dueling Pianos; 9, Roy Book Binder; 10, Michael London; 11, the Girke-Davis Project; 15, Lisa Chavous; 16, Todd Albright; 17, Settlement Music School; 18, Steve Shanahan’s Blues Muthas; 22, AC Steel & the Perpetrators; 23, Drivetime; 24, Clarence Spady Band; 25, Philly Blues Kings with Clarence Spady; 30, Tom Hampton and Jack Murray; 31, Mindstorm and the Lucky Break.

The Colonial Theater (227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, thecolonialtheatre.com/events) will start the week with “Shannon Curtis: 80’s Kids” on May 3 followed by BG Live on May 5, Politics and Pints on May 6 and Anna Todd on May 8.

The list of shows for the rest of the month includes “80’s Prom” on May 16, The Ledbetters and Superunknown on May 17, and Vocal Fusion Spring Concert on May 21.

The Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, www.ardmoremusic.com) has a busy weekend with the Chameleons on May 1, Grateful Shred on May 2, Youth Street Hustle on May 3 and a sold-out show by Frank Turner on May 4.

The schedule for the rest of May is: 8, Brett & River; 9 and 10, Unlimited Devotion; 14, Dandy Warhols; 15, Hamilton Leithauser; 16, Pink Talking Fish; 17, “Beer & Wine Fest;” 18, Josh Radnor; 18, Jerry’s Middle Finger; 20, Bob Dylan Birthday Bash; 22, Matteo Mancuso; 23, The Innocence Mission; 24, Melt With You; 28, David Cross; 30, Gimme Gimme Disco.

The weekend, the Elkton Music Hall (107 North Street, Elkton, Maryland, www.elktonmusichall.com) will host Zoso on May 1, Summer Dean on May 2, Fantastic Cat on May 3,  David Sancious and Will Calhoun with special guest Mahavishnu Project on May 6.

The schedule for the rest of May is: 8, Hayden Kauffman; 9, the Sensational Soulcruisers; 10, Rust: Neil Young Tribute; 15, Bit Brigade; 16, GA-20; 17, The Gathering Gloom; 20, Andrew Duhon; 21, Logan Halsted and Willie Tea Taylor; 22, Tony Holiday Band; 23, Red Birds; 24, Bostyx; 29, Nellie McKay; 30, Ronstadt Revue.

The Grand (818 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, www.thegrandwilmington.org) takes a look backward in May with Mickey Dolenz on May 2, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on May 5, Jon Anderson on May 7, and Roger McGuinn on May 23.

The schedule of events also features “Hadestown” from May 2-4, “The Magic of Motown” on 10, The Weight Band on May 10, “Taiwan: An Evening of Dance with the National Taiwan University of Sport” on May 23 and Laurie Berkner on May 31.

The Keswick Theater (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650, www.keswicktheatre.com) will have shows from Friday to Sunday this weekend – Leonid & Friends on May 3, “The Concert: A Tribute to Abba” on May 3 and Tommyinnit on May 4.

The sked for the rest of May is: 9, Professor Brian Cox; 10, Almost Queen; 14, Living Colour; 15, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic; 16, Trisha Yearwood; 17, The Chapin Family; 19, The Wonder Years; 24, OMD; 28, Corinne Baily Rae; 31, Let’s Sing Taylor.

The Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com) will showcase variety over the next few days with Joseph Arthur on May 1, Adrenalize on May 2, Eric Mintel Quartet on May 3, Rachel Feinstein on May 3, and Leonid & Friends on May 4.

The roster for the remainder of the month is: 5, David Sancious and Will Calhoun with special guest Mahavishnu Project; 6, Graham Bonnet Band; 8, Satisfaction; 9, The Weight Band; 11, Shemekia Copeland and Jeffrey Gaines; 14, Deadgrass; 15, Rickie Lee Jones; 16, The Reagan Years; 16, Ran’d Shine; 17, Tony Sands; 21, Ally Venable; 22, Six One Five Collective; 23, Darrel Scott with Chris Rafter; 24, Mikey Junior Band; 25, The Levin Brothers; 27, Bywater Call; 28, The Sweet Remains; 29, The Machine; 30, Nellie McKay; 31, Home Again.

World Café Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, www.worldcafelive.com) has four shows this weekend — The Steel Wheels on May 1,

Olive Klug on May 1, Jensen McRae on May 3, and a free show by Eric Gabriel on May 3.