Pop Reviews : Knitters Hoot It Up for Elderly Radicals

“Radicals never retire,” said Jan Goodman, lawyer for Sunset Hall, a Los Angeles home for elderly leftists, in a brief speech during a benefit concert for the unique facility at the Music Machine on Wednesday.

That sentiment applied to the home’s residents and to the show’s headliners the Knitters. The spin-off from X--L.A.’s one-time leading rock radicals--came out of its own five-year retirement for this one-time performance, and it made for a perfect match.

What better way to raise money for old radicals than with a hootenanny? And who better to head it than the group that was formed as a homage (in name, if not musical content) to the leftist hootenanny archetype the Weavers?

For all that, the Knitters’ 85-minute set was fairly--pardon the expression--conservative. Led by X’s John Doe and Exene Cervenka, it was a humor-filled, low-key outing that stayed off the soap box, flashing a wide spectrum of musical styles, with ex-Blasters guitarist Dave Alvin, X drummer D.J. Bonebrake and upright bassist Jonny Ray Bartel fleshing out the blues-country-folk-rock blend.

The show--which also included a dynamically chaotic set from Steve Wynn and short-but-solid appearances by singer-songwriter Chris Gaffney, rootsy trio Recipe for Murder and a Mexican folk duo--was indeed a hoot. All that was missing was a “Tom Dooley” sing-along.