At The Troubadour in Los Angeles

Monday, December 19, 2016

Every now and then an event happens that begs fans of the people involved to travel long distances to attend. Even more rare is an event that crosses genres between Television and Music. One of the most recent of these events was the Station Breaks’ album launch. Jason Manns (musician) and Rob Benedict (actor with a band) hosted the event that also became a holiday party of sorts, complete with Christmas songs sung by the night’s special guests (aka actors), in Los Angeles at The Troubadour. This event had me flying from the East Coast to the West Coast for one evening in order to fit the concert into my family’s holiday schedule. In hindsight, the decision to only stay in LA overnight was incredibly crazy. (Note to self: If I travel that far in the future, I will stay longer.) Lesson learned.

The concert celebrated the release of The Station Breaks’ self-titled album and was very much worth the long distance travel and short stay. (Still not sure about the tiredness and loss of time.) All of the band members and guest performers took the time to interact with anyone who approached them before and after the program, which made the whole thing special.

First off, before the concert began, ticket holders who wanted to take a photo on stage with The Station Breaks band were welcomed to do so as the guest performers arrived and prepared to take the stage. These photos were taken by up and coming photographer Ashley McClintic (amcclinticphoto on Twitter).

We were then treated to music from three bands:

First was Louden Swain (Rob Benedict, Stephen Norton, Billy Moran and Mike Borja) with special performances from guests Richard Speight, Jr., Timothy Omundson, Mandy Musgrave and her husband Matt Cohen, Emily Swallow and Mark Sheppard (who performed brilliantly despite struggling with a high-grade fever).

Then The Sandwich (Michael Rosenbaum, of Smallville fame, Tom Lally, Carl McDowell, Kent Irwin, Rob Danson, and Jessica Ferrar). It’s my opinion that the surprise of the night was Michael Rosenbaum’s band. Their set had an incredible energy and sound. I was amazed and everyone in the venue cheered loudly for them when their set was finished.

By the time the featured band, The Station Breaks (Jason Manns, Rob Benedict, Billy Moran, Rob Humphreys, and Cooper Appelt), took to the stage, everyone was at full celebration mode. The band was enjoying themselves on stage; the audience was having fun and the whole event felt like a party.

One other thing I learned from attending this event, besides to tack on a day or two to a trip of this distance, never underestimate the talent of an unemployed actor or entertainer. They may not be pulling in a steady paycheck, but they are certainly fully capable of rocking an historic venue like The Troubadour.

One could write an entire article solely about The Troubadour’s history, but to keep a long, musically rich story short, I will only mention a few milestones here. Music legends from Elton John, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan performed at The Troubadour. Comedy greats such as Steve Martin and Richard Pryor made stops at the venue and more recently John Legend and the Roots, Mumford and Sons, and Imagine Dragons have booked shows at The Troubadour.

All I can add is a congratulations to Jason Manns, Rob Benedict, Rob Humphreys, Billy Moran and Cooper Appelt for their album launch and wish them nothing but great success for their job well done. You have made this contributor a fan.

(Now if we could somehow convince Michael Rosenbaum and The Sandwich to create an album…)

Timothy Omundson singing ‘The Christmas Song’.

Link to The Sandwich performing

Link to The Station Breaks performing