"This is a secret show, right?" said Mayer Hawthorne at the start of his performance at the opulent Grand Ballroom of the Park Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. "Well, tonight, the secret word is fun." He kept his word for the next 90 minutes, as he and his nimble band, The County, blazed through two dozen songs in his updated classic soul style, infused with everything from doo-wop to hip-hop. Over the course of the evening, Hawthorne and his band thrilled an invitation-only crowd of 400 with a set featuring selections from Hawthorne's acclaimed new album, How Do You Do, plus such fan favorites as "Green Eyed Love."
