Bay Area favorites The Loved Ones return to San Diego on December 7 for a gig at The Casbah, their first in the county in nearly 30 years. A terrific live act, for fans of 60’s sounds, and tunes influenced by Chicago Blues, Memphis Soul, New Orleans R&B, British Invasion and Garage Rock, it doesn’t get much better than this.
The band, featuring Xan McCurdy (guitar), Michael Therieau (bass), John Kent (drums), and Bart Davenport (lead vocals) originally split in 1995, having released a pair of excellent albums, The Price of Love (1993) and Better Do Right (1994). Notably, McCurdy would go on to play guitar with platinum selling rock band, Cake, while Therieau is a former San Diegan, perhaps best known as a member of acclaimed 80’s era pop art rockers, The Event. There have been a handful of Loved Ones reunion shows since their original break, but this time it’s on a more permanent basis, with the band now touring in support of their upcoming new album, Latest Hits.
“Prior to this year, our last gigs were in December of 2014, in León, Spain and LA,” said Davenport. “The timing has been right in 2024 for us to be a band again, but because we all live in different parts of the country, we’re only working together every few months. No one is quitting their other bands or their day jobs,” he said good naturedly.
The Loved Ones will be touring Spain in April 2025, with a Northern California road trip the following month. “We’ve played six or seven gigs this year, most of them in preparation for studio recording sessions with producer, Nick Waterhouse,” Davenport said. “Those sessions yielded a new full-length album. We’re very happy with these recordings. As of now, there’s no label or release date. but stay tuned!”
What is Davenport looking forward to the most on this Southern California road trip? “Seeing some old, friendly faces for sure,” he said. “The Mothmen are opening the show and I think if we’re lucky, (their bassist) Ron Silva (also the singer in legendary R&B combo, The Crawdaddys) will make a guest appearance during our set! Ron and The Crawdaddys were/are a big influence!”
The Loved Ones The Mothmen
Saturday December 7
Doors at 7:30.
