Music Review Down in Laurel Canyon with Motel Sundown and Friends Shakespeare North Playhouse Prescot

 

Down In Laurel Canyon is a celebration of iconic music from the 1960’s and 1970’s celebrating the artists of the era who lived in the vicinity such as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, James Taylor and The Byrds. Laurel Canyon, hidden deep within California’s Hollywood hills was home to some of America’s most influential artists throughout the late 60s and early 70s.

Motel Sundown is a 7-piece band of musicians and friends who remember in song the heady days of the hippie era with nostalgic songs beloved by many and still played today by the younger generation.  The band was  originally  formed by singer-songwriters Naomi Campbell, Karen Turley and Rob Johnson in 2018 who got together through their love of rock, blues and Americana and through Karen and Naomi’s love of country music. The band  combine the sounds they grew up with such as The Beatles, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, with three-part harmonies inspired by the likes of Fleetwood Mac and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. All of the band’s voices blend superbly and makes for easy listening. 

Shakespeare North Playhouse is a 470 seated timber-framed in-the-round theatre which has a very intimate atmosphere and lends itself well to this type of performance as the audience are seated close-up to the stage on ground floor level; there are also two tiers of seating above. Unfortunately the seats aren’t as comfortable as they could be, most are bench seats without a back to them which doesn’t lend itself well to a two and a half hour performance.  All staff are very helpful and affable and there are also volunteer staff helping out. On this particular evening the performance was interrupted with a fire alarm going off which meant the audience had to evacuate the theatre just before the interval, luckily it was a false alarm, and everyone returned to their seats after a welcome break outside to cool off as it was a very warm evening.

All songs delivered were exceptional, but a few deserve a further mention such as Rob’s beautiful rendition of James Taylor’s ‘Fire and Rain’, and Joni Mitchell’s ‘Ladies of the Canyon’ which was delivered by the two female vocalists who sang it exquisitely. ‘Both Sides Now’ was a crowd pleaser and the band encouraged the audience to join in with the singing which they did. Carly Simon’s ‘You’re So Vain’ and Carol King’s ‘It’s Too Late Baby’, plus Dylan’s ‘My Back Pages’ were delivered effortlessly, and strong audience appreciation was shown with loud cheers and applause.

This was a very pleasant evening of nostalgia and reminiscence of the memorable timeless catalogue of songs produced in the 1960’s and 1970’s and the band delivered a very cool performance with ease and composure. Catch them if you can on June 21st, 2025 at 3:00pm and 8:00 pm.

Reviewer – Anne Horne

On – 20^th June 2025