Gimme Shelter benefit

The Roxy, West Hollywood
Wednesday, Dec. 5

The annual Gimme Shelter benefit has become a showcase of rising talent in addition to established names, and Wednesday evening, the up-and-coming made the greatest impression.

Although the bill included L.A. legend (and, more recently, "Roswell" semi-regular) John Doe of X and Glen Phillips of Santa Barbara's now-departed Toad the Wet Sprocket, Atlanta-based singer-songwriter John Mayer proved the biggest draw, and James Walsh from England's Starsailor left one wishing his band's show at the Troubadour wasn't later in the evening but another night.

With a pinched, throaty voice that often recalls Dave Matthews, Mayer delivered with far more emotion and dollops of humor as he encountered monitor buzzing, a broken guitar string and forgotten lyrics. He definitely has style, nimble fingers on the guitar frets and a strong sense of melody to carry the romantic irony found in songs like the ballad "Comfortable."

Mayer's Columbia bow "Room for Squares" received four stars in Rolling Stone, and when someone in the audience said something about eBay, Mayer quipped, "EBay's been really good to me; I'm selling one of my Rolling Stone stars -- I only need three."

With only a handful of numbers, Walsh conveyed craft and subtle Britpop smarts for a '70s-inspired glitter-folk blend on songs including "Good Souls" and the tragic compassion of "Alcoholic" from Starsailor's forthcoming Capitol debut, "Love Is Here." He also went from a Ryan Adams song into Elton John's "Rocket Man."

Top-billed and closing the night, Doe was loose and rambling in the rootsy style he has been carving out alongside X for years. Working with a stand-up bass player and pianist as the John Doe Thing, his songs included the cityscape reflections of "This Far" and the road-trip vignette of "Highway 5."

Other performers included Joe Henry taking dark, melancholy turns on reverberating electric guitar, backed by a bassist and drummer; ex-Pixies provocateur Frank Black with mostly shaggy-dog tunes, including a cover of Tom Waits' "Black Rider"; and Phillips solo on acoustic guitar to play generally gentle material from his first solo release, "Abulum," out this year on the indie Red Brick label.

Opening the evening was RCA's Charlotte Martin, who offered a mix of cute tunes and quirky delivery, including the title song from her forthcoming debut album, "One Girl Army."

Organized by Gary Spivack of Capitol Records, his wife, Jill, and Joel Amsterdam of Elektra Records, this was the 11th annual Gimme Shelter concert, raising money for the HELP Group (www.helpgroup.org), which assists children in need.

Darryl Morden/December 07, 2001
The Hollywood Reporter

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