Vana Liya’s shows remain flowing and gently strong, but they’re getting more fun, too, as witnessed in the VIDEO below of her October 2024 show at The Subterranean in Chicago, her second in the city this year. The video captures 8-minutes of the fun, beginning with her signature song “Gold.” Everything moves along, probably as it has concert after concert, but when it comes time for Daniel and Derek (aka Man of the Forest) to do their neat solos in harmony, Daniel suddenly flips the guitar over his head and plays it upside down as it rests on his shoulders.
The first time I experienced this live was when I was in high school and directed the year’s talent show. A band—Sato and the Mellotones, I think—were auditioning and were really good. They were going to make it. But halfway through their song the guitarist flips his guitar over his head, at which my assistant director, Phil Brooks, jumped up and shouted, “No! No! That cheapens your act!” I didn’t agree, and neither did Sato, who said, stunned, almost pleading, “But he’s got to do that because next he picks it with his teeth.”
Well, Daniel stopped short of that, thankfully, but it was good to see him having fun on stage. I think he’s a great guitarist, and I still point people to this YouTube Video of him playing “Way Down Low” at the Stork Club in Oakland, California, as a prime example of someone building a beautiful, improvised solo. It’s brilliant. And he’s played brilliantly for a long time, but early on he seemed shy, almost stepping out of the spotlight sometimes when he played. Being in Vana Liya’s band has made him more of a showman, perhaps a secondary concern in music, but still a crucially important part of making live music spark.
Vana Liya and the band were second on the bill to KBong and Johnny Cosmic, and things really start sparking when KBong himself comes out to finish off Vana’s “Feeling Good.” “It all started with him.” She says something like that because it was KBong who took her on her first tour many years ago, and why, when she’s doing “Feeling Good” on the acoustic Sugar Shack Sessions, she says, “Shout out to my boy KBong.” So behind the good fun there was a long history of togetherness, something that adds to the fun a deep joy.
♦ Go HERE for more of Dan Guzman’s music, as well as music from others in our family.