Wrap Up of ALO's California Tour de Amor Shows

photo: ALO at the Troubador, taken by Ed Mercadillo.

After a fantastic Thursday night show at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz, and then last night's show at the Fillmore, I am in ALO withdrawl.

Here's a sampling of ALO moments from the band's current Tour de Amor, collected from various online sources.

* Pre-Tour "Tour Vlog" from ALO - watch here on the Relix site.


* 2/11 The Belly Up - Solana Beach, CA (San Diego) show "Tour Vlog" from ALO - watch here on the Relix site.

Stay tuned to Relix.com for more Vlog's from the tour:)


* 2/12 Saint Rocke - Hermosa Beach, CA show video recording -

Watch live video from Saint Rocke Live Music Venue on Justin.tv


* 2/13 Troubador - Los Angeles, CA show audio recording - listen here.

* Troubador ALO official Vlog on Relix.com - watch here. Best one yet! :)


photo: ALO on stage at the Troubador, taken by Mags

I love Track 6. "The lesson, as far as I've observed is that it's your perspective that makes your stomach churn. Changes come around fast, sometimes they may burn. So learn to dig change and it will dig you in return."

Note that Tracks 16 and 17 feature J Radio (Merlo Podlewski who plays bass in Jack Johnson's band.) Merlo's rap begins at about 3 minutes into Track 16, and again on Track 17. For more from Merlo check this out, as well as "Staple It Together" live from Jack Johnson's 2008 Tour. Here's one version of "Staple It Together" from the tour.


photo: Merlo on stage with ALO at the Troubador, taken by Mags

Thanks to markaronoff for these YouTube videos from the Troubador show.

"Suspended" off of the new album "Man of the World." This song was one of my favorites from the Fillmore show -


"Helpless", "Try" -


"BBQ" -



* 2/14 SOhO - Santa Barbara, CA show audio recording - listen here. Especially check out "Grateful Dead Girl."


* 2/18 - Moe's Alley - Santa Cruz, CA show audio recording. Thanks, Dr. Bob!


photo: Moe's Alley stage, taken by Leslie Ottaviano.


photo: Steve & Zach, taken by Leslie Ottaviano.


photo: Chris Velan, who is opening for ALO on this tour, joins them on stage for "Boogie On Reggae Woman", taken by Leslie Ottaviano.

Other than seeing Chris play twice (Moe's and the Fillmore) I wasn't familiar with him. I just checked out his Myspace page, and wanted to share this - makes me appreciate his music even more! (He's also on the benefit compilation "1% for the Planet: The Music, Vol. 1" along with ALO and Jack Johnson.)

For Chris Velan, arrival at the intersection of experience and opportunity occurred in the form of a phone call from two college friends who were making a documentary about a group of musicians in war-torn Sierra Leone. Although he had been a student of classical guitar from the age of nine and a veteran of the Canadian band scene, he had recently embarked towards a career as a human rights lawyer in his native Montreal. After the grind of law school and a year of life as an apprentice attorney, he made the decision that would change his course personally and professionally; he opted for the meaningful over the mundane. His subsequent experiences in Africa left an indelible mark that would govern his choices as he contemplated future life once the film project was complete. His involvement with Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars (he produced their album and often performs with them) showed him that there is power in music that transcends even the law and put him literally on the road to making a career as a singer/songwriter.


I found the trailer for the film, "Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars." Thank you once again, YouTube:) Check out the Pangea Day website for other great films like this one, and "take action" info.



Another incentive to check out Chris' website - he's posted some great photos from the ALO tour:)



photo: Spotted a Surfrider Santa Barbara Chapter sticker on Zach's keyboard at the Moe's show. YAY! I had to document this one with a photo:)


photo: a close up of the sticker:)


* 2/20 Fillmore - San Francisco, CA


photo: ALO at the Fillmore, by Erin Cassidy. I was on the opposite side of the room, about 4 feet from the stage, in front of Zach.

My all-time favorite ALO memory from the past 6 years is from last night's show. During the encore Dan spontaneously leaped onto a large speaker that was sitting on the edge of the stage, and proceeded to wail on his guitar for several minutes, before leaping back onto the stage, managing a to do a split mid-air during his landing. ALO owned the Fillmore last night; it beautiful:)


photo: Dan on the speaker, photo taken by Erin Cassidy.


photo: Dan's landing, photo taken by Erin Cassidy.


* 2/23 - KINK.FM studio performance of "Big Appetite" - Portland, OR



Check out their upcoming tour dates here. And stay tuned to www.archive.org for recordings of more shows from this tour!