Michael Clare wrote 'The concert last night went really well-- Kevin enjoyed himself and played over an hour and a half --- Mushroom did a great job backing him -- Pat was happy too --- they miraculously pulled off 3 songs that weren't even rehearsed --- I am sure you will get more detailed reports from those more literate than I, just wanted to let you know that from the promoters point of view it was a smashing success: everyone left smiling.'

Rick Chafen wrote '...there sure were a lot of extremely happy people in the audience. Kevin was one very happy performer. The set list included surprises for everyone--even the band. My biggest surprise was Decadence; The band's biggest surprises were 'I don't depend on you' and 'Super Salesman'. I expected it to be fabulous, and it was even better than my expectations. Expect more developments. I heard some pretty cool stuff from Kevin about the band and the future. . . There were lots of folks in the audience I didn't talk to, but I did talk to people who'd specifically flown in from Cincinnati, Ohio, New York City, and even The Netherlands. One lady came up to me and said "Thank you, Mr. Promoter." I told her I was the former promoter, that I was only a fan that night, and then learned that she'd driven down from Portland Oregon, and had bought the tickets on the internet. Anyway, just an exuberant quick hello. Cheers! '

Richie Unterberger wrote 'Did anybody else do see Kevin at the Great American last night? Thought I'd just chime in to give a review. The opening band, which also backed Kevin, was a local SF group called Mushroom. These guys are the real deal. Their lineup is bass, drums, two guitarists (one of whom doubles on flute), and two keyboard players, one with a Fender Rhodes and a mellotron, the other with an analog synth and organ (well, sampled organ).

They play long, roaming, spacey instrumentals without drifting off into "what are we doing up here" noodling. Anyway, they played for about an hour, then Kevin came out and did:
Too Old to Die Young
Lady Rachel
Everybody's Sometime & Some People's All-The-Time Blues
Interview
Decadence
See You Later (very unexpected and fun)
Why Are We Sleeping
Stranger in the Blue Suede Shoes
Ghost Train (the best of the night IMHO)
Didn't Feel Lonely Till I Thought of You
I Don't Depend on You
Eleanor's Cake (Which Ate Her) (just guitar and flute, great stuff)

We Did It Again (I sh*t you not; Kevin sauntered back up and announced, "that's the best lyric I ever wrote")

With a final performance of "Super Salesman" they were off (if anybody was there and can confirm the setlist I'd appreciate it, I think I may have missed a tune or two).

The performance was a little rough due to Mushroom not being his usual band. The show I saw in '95, with the Wizards of Twiddley (and the Whole World's Lol Coxhill sitting in!) was more satisfying as a whole.

I interviewed Kevin before the show, and he told me how the philosopher Gurdjieff was the influence behind "Why Are We Sleeping" as well as some interesting stuff behind the formation of the Soft Machine. On the whole a really interesting and friendly guy. I forgot, though, to ask whatever happened to his mascara brush.

Dan Sullivan wrote'Good morning! Thought you might appreciate a quick run-down of Kevin's gig at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco last night (May 24, 1998).

The Great American Music Hall is a 19th century gem, very small and intimate. There's a main floor (normally bare, for dancing, but last night with tables and chairs for a mellower feeling) and a balcony area (which was closed off last night). The place is decorated in Early Bordello, as in fact it was a bordello at one point in it's storied history!

The evening started with a 45 minute set of mostly improvisational tunes by the (local?) band Mushroom. Their line-up consisted of two keyboardists (one of whom played very groovy mellotron), bass, drums, lead guitar, and another lead guitarist who doubled on flute. They were well received by the crowd which numbered probably 150 or so.

Kevin came on after a 45 minute break, accompanied by the all of Mushroom less one of the guitarists. Kevin played a semi-acoustic 6-string electric which he apparently borrowed from someone. He mentioned they'd been able to rehearse for all of five hours yesterday afternoon. That being said, he and Mushroom carried things off quite well. The drummer was over-enthusiastic and had to be shushed a few times during the set. A few tunes broke down and had to be restarted. They even had to stop and run through the chord changes for I Don't Depend on You after a false start! But Kevin was in good humor for the most part, the crowd was warmly enthusiastic, and the lights were not too bright! Also, Kevin was much more sober than he'd been last time he played San Francisco back in 1993. It seemed to me that he was just as nervous, in some ways, as the last time, but the 1993 show was solo acoustic -- the first time he'd ever toured that way -- and he was much more comfortable with a band behind him, even an underrehearsed bunch of strangers.

The set list was as follows: Champagne and Valium
Lady Rachel
Everybody's Sometimes and Some People's All the Time Blues
Interview
Decadence
See You Later
Why Are We Sleeping
Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes
Ghost Train
Didn't Feel Lonely Till I Thought of You
I Don't Depend On You
Eleanor's Cake Which Ate Her
Encore 1: We Did It Again (Mushroom, without Kevin)
Encore 2: Super Salesman

The Mushrooms certainly provided a sympathetic accompaniement. They were able to stretch out on a couple of the louder, rockier songs (Interview, Stranger, Didn't Feel Lonely). Kevin introduced Decadence by saying "I haven't played this one in 20 years." The mellotron sound was particularly excellent here. Eleanor's Cake was essentially a duet between Kevin and the Mushrooms' lead guitarist, who played flute for this song. It was a fine way to end the set.

The absolute highlight for me was Ghost Train. Kevin told both the audience and the band that he'd play this new song provided everyone was quiet; otherwise he jokingly threatened to walk out on us! The band did indeed keep it quiet, beautifully so. The guitarist and bass player particularly did an excellent job of recreating the mood of the album track, which has a gorgeous sense of depth and space to it. Kevin got lost in a revery, closing his eyes and concentrating very hard on the song. He sang it wonderfully --probably the only song he didn't struggle to remember the words to all night! He hit every note, and was completely locked in to the lyrics, which deal with aging in a different and more affecting way than does, say, Champagne and Valium (aka Too Old to Die Young). This song seemed to be sung from the heart in a way some of the older material was not.

The first encore was a hard-rocking version of We Did it Again which got a few bottoms out of their chairs to dance in the aisles. No Kevin, though! The song wound to a climax, then in the midst of the applause Kevin re-emerged to lead a somewhat ragged second encore of Super Salesman. And then, all too soon, he was thanking us (Mushroom and the crowd) enthusiastically, grinning and waving as he left the stage.

So there you have it! I had a great time, and felt like it made up slightly for my not having had the pleasure of seeing the Wizards of Twiddly backing our Kevin. I wonder what happens on the 29th in LA? Will he be going out solo again? Definitely a different vibe with a band behind him.' Don Daly posted: 'I saw Kevin last night here in San Francisco at the Great American Music Hall. He was backed by local progsters Mushroom. A good show. Not sold out but not empty either. He looked good, sang well, played good guitar. (For you fellow guitarists he had a beautiful dot marker Gibson 335 thru a Roland JC-120 amp with the chorus on but no reverb). Did a long set--about 90 minutes!! Lots of old faves including Lady Rachel, Interview, Everybody's sometime, See You Later, Didn't Feel Lonely, Decadence (!) Stranger in Blue suede Shoes. A nice rendition of Ghost Train. Mushroom played We Did it Again in the encore but Kevin didn't join them-- came out just as it was ending. He ended with Super Salesman. It was not a well rehearsed show but Mr. Ayers was his usual charming self and the entire evening was a joy. A lot of credit must go to Mushroom who played with (maybe too much) spirit. Kevin seemed to keep trying to slow and quiet the band down. It was a fun show and a rare treat. Much better than last time he played here.'

Richard Derrick wrote 'Well, after months of planning, the California mini-tour is now a part of history. It seemed like the logistics would never end, but the results were well worth it, judging from all the smiles on everyone's faces, including Kevin and Jo's. Of the original group of musicians I'd assembled several months ago, five ended up getting work out of town and being replaced, but fortunately I was still "picking from the A-list", and the show itself went off without a hitch.

The day after the SF show, I drove Kevin, Jo and Jose down Highway 1 through Big Sur, which took forever but was so beautiful - all the rains this winter made everything so verdant! I hadn't been on that road in nine years, so I enjoyed it quite a bit...or at least, as much as I could, considering that I had to keep my eyes on the road. Much of the road through Big Sur is literally on the edge of a mountain, often with no guardrails, so there's no margin for error!

Jo's wife Jose took full advantage of her first trip to California by seeing the sights - Universal Studios with Jo and me, Catalina Island on her own, Disneyland with Michael Clare (who drove down from SF). Kevin entertained himself with whatever reading matter made itself available (no surprise there!).

We rehearsed for three hours on 5/27, until Kevin called it a wrap early. We hadn't even rehearsed several tunes (Shouting In A Bucket Blues, Mr. Cool and See You Later among them), but he decided it sounded fine and that "we'll busk it"! THAT's the spirit!

The show went off great! It started later than hoped for, but we still got a good 80 minutes in. The peak moments were too numerous to list. Thank You Very Much was the final song of the evening - not only had we not rehearsed it, but the band had never even heard it before, except for the guitarist! I called out the chords and gave visual cues, and it came together beautifully. Everyone had so much fun, no one even seemed to mind that we didn't get around to doing May I, which we had rehearsed.

I didn't get the chance to say hello to everyone who had come to the show, but it was great to see John Payne from the LA Weekly who did such a lovely write-up, Doug Bartel who had driven down from the Bay Area, and Terry Tugwell who had flown out from Louisiana for the show!

The reviews were coming in immediately after the final song. My favorite so far was from Brad Dutz, the percussionist, when I thanked him for playing: "You're welcome, it was hilarious!" Coming from someone who's played with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Kiss, that's high praise indeed!

We spent the weekend at the home of my boss, Leland Jessop, near Palm Springs. Credit must be given to Leland for helping to finance the airfare - these shows wouldn't have happened without his help! Thanks also to my folks for putting everyone up, and to Brian Wells who not only helped with financing and supplying a guitar amp for Kevin, but was also the kind soul who had introduced me to Kevin's music some twenty years ago!

After three days of lazing, eating, drinking and jacuzzi-ing, it was back to LA for a final dinner by the ocean, then off to LAX. By now, everyone's back in Brussels, leaving us with some great memories and hopes to do this again VERY soon!

The band:
Ken Rosser, lead guitar
Vinny Golia, woodwinds
Richard Derrick, bass
Chris Wabich, drums
Brad Dutz, percussionist
John Talley-Jones, vocal
Lauran Gangl, vocal
Kevin Keller, vocal

The set list:
Too Old To Die Young
Shouting In A Bucket Blues
Lady Rachel
When Your Parents Go To Sleep
Everybody's Sometime...Blues
See You Later
Super Salesman
Ghost Train
Interview
Mr. Cool
I Don't Depend On You
Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes
an improvised rap (after which Kevin said by way of apology, "I won't ever do that again" - laughter from the band members can be heard on the tape!)
Blaming It All On Love
Why Are We Sleeping
Didn't Feel Lonely 'Til I Thought Of You
Thank You Very Much (encore)