Songs from the Canyon (Mrs Reznik & Select Music), at Palais Theatre and touring - 2 hours, including interval

My, couldn’t we do with more peace and love in the world now, arguably more than ever?

That is why Songs from the Canyon (that is Laurel Canyon) carries even greater weight in 2025.

The geographic reference is to a mountainous neighbourhood in the Hollywood Hills, an oasis of tranquillity and the home of counterculture in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

It is where musicians such as Cass Elliot of The Mamas & the Papas, Joni Mitchell, Jim Morrison, Carole King, the Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Brian Wilson, James Taylor and many more congregated.

The pixie dust of the era produced hit after sublime hit, which continue to resonate.

I speak of folk music, a blend of folk and rock, and folk and psychedelic – introspective lyricism and intoxicating harmonies.

A glorious, seriously good, nine-strong band, touring the country, brings it all back … and how … in an unmissable concert, into which they weave a few tales of the time.

But the bulk of the 100-minute showcase (plus interval) is simply about the music.

Think California Dreaming, Mr Tambourine Man, Everybody’s Talkin’ and So Far Away to Too Late Baby, You’ve Got a Friend, Our House and Love the One You’re With … and that is only part of the first half.

Monday, Monday kicks off Act II, followed by God Only Knows and, even, a dedication to another pivotal point in music history, Woodstock.

That saw more than half a million people turn up to a dairy farm in New York in 1969 to hear 32 acts over four days.

Songs from the Canyon features 23 numbers, in which the supremely talented artistes frequently mix and match their prowess on vocals and instruments.

The performers are Husky Gawenda, Dan Kelly, Hannah Cameron, Stephen Grady, Charm of Finches (aka Mable and Ivy Windred-Wornes), Dan Challis, Brie Hartley and Jules Pascoe.

At times, all are on stage. On other occasions, it is combinations thereof, with fewer numbers, but the engaging, melodious tone is a constant, regardless.

If you shut your eyes for but a moment, I swear the sounds that resonate are those produced by the originators of the material. This nonet is that darn great.

Instruments are interchanged between songs at will. Everything from drums and bongos, guitars and bass, banjo and violin to keyboards, harmonica, tambourine and shaker.

All up, it is a cavalcade of extraordinary musicality. I sat there in awe.

Theatricality isn’t foregone either, with cascades of light – white, yellow, pink, red, green, purple and blue – bathing the performers in an ethereal glow.

The staging includes four lit standing lamps of various hues and a table lamp.

Make no mistake, this is the finest of feel-good entertainment that puts you in a happy place. It is mellow, mellifluous and downright magical.

Harmony and bonhomie proliferate. Savour it.

For tour dates and to buy tickets, go to https://www.songsfromthecanyon.com