The Kingston Trio comes to El Portal Theatre March 8 and 9.
When The Kingston Trio took the stage to play in front of huge audiences during the golden days of American folk music in the ’60s, they were always the three coolest guys in the crowd.
Now that coolness will grab the spotlight for two special concerts, Wednesday, March 8, and Thursday, March 9, at the historic El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood.
The Kingston Trio has Mike Marvin, Tom Gorelangton and Buddy Woodward, all with deep links to the founding members of the Trio, keeping the music alive. They tour around the country more than 30 weeks a year to packed crowds and grateful fans who recapture youthful memories through the music.
“There’s a lot of reasons the concerts works so well,” says Mike Marvin. “There’s something about the music that’s kind of magical. It’s compelling, cinematic in your head, it’s great storytelling, and it’s music that just stays alive. That’s one of the reasons we’ve been so successful.”
The Kingston Trio presents their most famous songs right out of the gate. Marvin assures, “They’re all great songs, but we start with the hits that are instantly recognizable by the fans. There’s no time to get bored waiting for the hits.”
Among some of the wonderful chart-toppers are: Tom Dooley, Where Have All The Flowers Gone, Hard Travelin’, M.T. A. (He’ll Never Return), Everglades, Greenback Dollar, A Worried Man, Merry Minuet, and the list goes on.
It’s a blessing that these great American folks songs are being introduced to a new generation, and Marvin loves it when a fifteen year old kid comes up to him after the show and says, “I’ve never heard anything like this before.” Marvin adds, “Several years later the kid will come to a show with his guitar and he’ll invite us to come see his band which is doing all our music.”
In addition to delighting audiences, The Kingston Trio is continuing a legacy of Mike’s ‘adopted dad’ and mentor Nick Reynolds, who along with his buddies Bob Shane and Dave Guard (and later John Stewart), founded the Kingston Trio.
What joy does Mike Marvin feel about carrying the torch and continuing that legacy? He says, “I grew up with this music, becoming part of Nick’s family when I was a teenager. I was at the rehearsals with Nick, where I learned the music ropes. That was when the Trio was the biggest entertainment act in the world. I talk about this in the show. Knowing Nick as well as I did, I think he would approve if he saw our show.”
A musician posted a review of the show not too long ago saying, “Going to see The Kingston Trio was like going to see a Master Class in communication between stage and audience.”
Marvin notes, “We don’t do a traditional concert. We put on a complete show that sounds very loose and ad libbed, but it’s not. We do meet and greets after the shows, and we’ve had lots of people come up and say ‘You know that Nick, Bob and John would be very proud of you guys.’ And we get people thanking us for doing ‘Scotch and Soda’ and talk about how it was part of their marriage proposal.”
What always blows the audience away is the time machine they enter. Marvin explains, “We take them back to a moment in their lives, maybe when they were teenagers. It’s so close to the passion that they remember when they first heard these songs that they actually loose themselves in the journey for these two hours. It’s an overall experience. They are seeing the Kingston Trio as they remember it. Not as a tribute band doing their voices perfectly, but with mistakes and jokes and having fun. Doing the things that bring down the house. Nick Reynolds’ best quote was, ‘Remember, perfection is boring.’”
This is The Kingston Trio for real, 60 years later. “This concert is an absolute trip in a time machine,” say Marvin. “Tim, Buddy and I in striped shirts, black pants, loafers, Martin guitars. You are going to see the show you would have seen in 1960, which is to say you are going to see the best presentation of this music you’ll ever see in the United States or anywhere.”
The Kingston Trio perform their timeless classics Wednesday, March 8, at 7:30 pm, and Thursday, March 9, at 7:30 pm, on the Debbie Reynolds Mainstage at the Historic El Portal Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd. in the NOHO Arts District, North Hollywood, CA.
For tickets and information call 818-508-4200 or online at www.elportaltheatre.com.
Story by Margie Barron
Margie Barron has written for a wide variety of outlets, including Gannett newspapers, Nickelodeon, Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine, Fresh!, Senior Life, Production Update, airline magazines, etc. Margie is also proud to have been half of the husband and wife writing team Frank & Margie Barron, who had written together for various entertainment and travel publications for more than 38 years.