No fleeing for ‘Exile’ concert band (2024)

Just as a rolling stone gathers no moss, it isn’t easy to quit when no one can replace you.

That’s why local indie music mainstay Mario Escovedo will be on stage tonight at the Casbah, heading up the 16th annual “Exile on Kettner Boulevard” Christmas Eve concert bash. Never mind that he will be doing so a full six years after he announced that he and his band would be handing the torch over to, well, that was the problem.

“It was an idea that kind of ran off on its own and kept getting bigger,” said singer-guitarist Escovedo of the annual, free-admission tribute to the music of the Rolling Stones.

“The first ‘Exile’ show was in 1993 and we hadn’t really thought about it continuing so long. Plus, musicians who play in different bands are definitely busy around the holiday season. But (Casbah co-owner) Tim Mays couldn’t find a band to take over after we said 2003 would be our last year. When he asked us to come back in November of 2004, because the Casbah would otherwise have to go dark that night, it was hard to walk away.”

Ironically, Escovedo and his now-former band, The Dragons, were not supposed to have played at the first “Exile” gig. Local music mainstays Uncle Joe’s Big Ol’ Driver was slated to perform the show, which had been devised as a festive vehicle for area musicians and fans to celebrate the holiday season together to a live, all-Stones soundtrack.

But time waits for no one, including Uncle Joe’s, which had to cancel at the second to last moment.

The Dragons stepped in to save the night, after having hastily assembled a repertoire of songs by the Stones that focused on the English band’s classic 1972 double-album, “Exile on Main Street.” Since then, it’s been nothing but happy Christmas Eve shows, as Escovedo and various musical pals play salt of the earth songs designed to make listeners sway with satisfaction.

“Playing a Stones’ song like ‘Loving Cup’ or ‘Shine a Light’ is magical,” Escovedo, 46, said. “And it makes you appreciate the Stones more, especially when you’re playing their songs with such talented musicians. ‘Exile’ is an album you can revisit and find something new every time you hear it.”

For the first year or two, there were nearly as many musicians on the stage as people in the audience, recalled Escovedo, who by day works on the assignment desk at KFMB-TV Channel 8. But the crowds grew each year, as did the quality of the music and the caliber of guest stars.

Now, the event has grown to the point that a second group, Exile Band II, co-led by Escovedo and Shambles’ co-leader Bart Mendoza, tonight will play a mid-show set of “Under My Thumb,” “This Could Be the Last Time” and other 1960s Stones favorites.

Ultimately, the show is a labor of love for Escovedo, whose siblings include veteran Latin-jazz band leader Pete Escovedo, Texas-based troubadour Alejandro Escovedo and San Diego mainstay Javier Escovedo (whose recently reunited punk band, The Zeros, plays at the Casbah Jan. 2.)

“It wouldn’t be the Christmas season for me if we weren’t doing this show,” said Mario Escovedo, who will play a reunion gig of his own with The Dragons at the Casbah on Jan. 23. “And for people here without families, it’s a way for them to celebrate on Christmas Eve, a night when, usually, nothing is open.”

LET IT LOOSE

Tonight’s free “Exile on Kettner Boulevard” concert at the Casbah will feature performances of material from throughout the Rolling Stones’ career. However, at least eight of the songs will be from the band’s 1972 album, “Exile on Main Street.” (Songs that will be played are indicated with an asterisk.)

Side One

1. “Rocks Off”*; 2. “Rip This Joint”; 3. “Shake Your Hips”*; 4. “Casino Boogie”; 5. “Tumbling Dice”*

Side Two

6. “Sweet Virginia”*; 7. “Torn and Frayed”;

8. “Sweet Black Angel”; 9. “Loving Cup”*

Side Three

10. “Happy”*; 11. “Turd on the Run”; 12. “Ventilator Blues”; 13. “I Just Want to See His Face”; 14. “Let It Loose”

Side Four

15. “All Down the Line”*; 16. “Stop Breaking Down”; 17. “Shine a Light”*; 18. “Soul Survivor”

GEORGE VARGA

STONE CLASSIC NOW, NOT THEN

“Exile on Main Street” is widely regarded as one of the Rolling Stones’ strongest albums (and most diverse) with songs steeped in rock, blues, gospel, country and more. But that wasn’t the case when it was released 37 years ago. “Hey, nobody liked ‘Exile’ when it came out,” Stones guitarist Keith Richards said in a 1998 Night&Day interview. “If you’d read the reviews, you would have thought it was the worst album ever made.”

Well, not quite, but close enough for discomfort.

“… in the end, ‘Exile’ spends its four sides shading the same song in as many variations as there are Rolling Stone ready-mades to fill them,” sniped a 1972 review of the album in Rolling Stone magazine.

The reception wasn’t much better in 1979’s The Rolling Stone Record Guide, wherein the album was dismissed with “… too much of ‘Exile’ is simply forgettable.”

But revisionism rules, as evidenced in the 2004 edition of The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, which proclaimed. “ ‘Exile’ was the Stones’ biggest musical triumph.” (It’s also the album that top jam-band Phish chose to perform, in its entirety, this year at the midpoint of Phish’s three-day Halloween marathon show at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.)

GEORGE VARGA

THE GUYS (AND GAL) IN THE BAND

The five Rolling Stones featured nearly two-dozen guest musicians on “Exile on Main Street.” Tonight at the Casbah, the core “Exile on Kettner Boulevard Band” will feature seven local music mainstays, plus former San Diego vocal standout Romy Kaye, who is flying in from New Orleans to do the show. Their current musical affiliations are shown in parentheses.

Vocals-guitar, Mario Escovedo (solo); guitar, Joe Camacho (El Monte Slim); bass, George Veddari (ex-Uncle Joe’s Big Ol’ Driver). Keyboards, Joey Guevara (Lady Dottie & The Diamonds); drums, Brian “Nucci” Cantrell (too many bands to list); guitar, Rick Wilkins (Sarah Petite & The Sugar Daddies); saxophone, Jonny Viau (Candye Kane)

GEORGE VARGA