On a beautiful October evening in Berkeley, I could feel the friendly warmth of the audience within Cornerstone’s intimate setting consisting of a dance floor with no seats as Coyote Island, a four-man band from Maine, opened for Brett Dennen with fervor. Their woodsy music laid out a forest of sound that Dennen would be able to step into easily, wild child that he is.
Shoulder to shoulder, we cheered as Brett Dennen and his three-piece band (drums, bass, and keyboard) took the stage, launching into the title track of his 2021 See the World album, which urges its listener to get out and see the world on the heels of the pandemic shutdown and not take freedom for granted. Dennen followed with “Paul Newman Daytona Rolex”, the second track from the same album, where he flashed his stage theatrics, somewhat reminiscent of David Byrne, pointing out the invisible watch on his wrist as he moved and grooved on stage. It is Dennen’s relaxed, playful stage presence that adds to his concerts.
With the crowd quickly into his groove, Dennen stepped into “Chipping Away,” the opening track from his new If It Takes Forever album, which he dedicated to the memory of his father, Brian Dennen, who passed away in 2023. The album was released the day before, making Brett’s “This is a new song” a welcome mantra for the evening. Of course, he also delved into his rich catalog with such favorites as “Darlin’ Do Not Fear” and “Ain’t No Reason” from his superlative sophomore 2006 So Much More and several from his equally stunning Loverboy from 2011: “Must Be Losing My Mind,” “Comeback Kid (That’s My Dog)” and the set closer, “Sydney (I’ll Come Running).” Overall, Dennen shuffled the songs of his repertoire into a satisfying full house.
“Cassidy” from Pro Favor (2016), was one such card that had the crowd’s feet shuffling. The rest of the set focused on the new songs, “Another Day in Babylon”, “Don’t Go Talking to Yourself”, “Dharma Baby”, and “In the Garden” a tender love song to his father. The songwriting on If It Takes Forever show a maturity that comes with loss and the profound changes that a parent’s death can bring to one’s life experience. As Dennen states in the album's liner notes, “This album is about life and how I look at it now. There’s a lot of my father in it.” The penultimate song of the evening’s set was “Wild Child” from Smoke And Mirrors (2013), which got the audience howling!
When Brett came back out on stage for the encore wearing his Oakland A’s baseball cap I knew he was going to play one of my favorite songs, “San Francisco” from Hope for the Hopeless” (2008). As I had spent the day leading up to the show soaking up San Francisco, I was very much hoping he’d play this anthem to the foggy city. Dennen ended with “Blessed”, the opening song from his debut album Brett Dennen (2005), where he sings, “Blessed is this life, and I’m going to celebrate being alive,” bringing the concert full circle to the sentiments of his new album where Dennen writes in the liner notes: “Ultimately it’s about love. It’s meant to be a celebration. Life is joyous, and listening to music should be as well.”