Rev. Al Green brings the Gospel of Soul to the Norton Center

 (pictures from HullabaLOU 2010)

In a near packed house at the Norton Center in Danville’s Centre College, Rev. Al Green gave us an intimate connection to himself and his music. Armed with a 16-piece band, stockpile of roses and endless bottles of orange Gatorade, the Rev. reached out to everyone in the audience. Starting with a roll call of Lexington and Danville residents, he shows love for Lexington and it was his first trip to Danville. He proclaims, “I want Kentucky. If I can’t have it all, I don’t want it at all”. He takes us across the ocean to Japan, wondering how the Japanese people can sing his songs so well, yet after they finish, he cannot understand them. However, it made him smile that his music is transcendent throughout the world.

Of course, like no other performer does it, his use of roses is a trademark. So much so that his rose toss is likened to an NFL quarterback with surgical precision. Several songs in particular were rose factories, such as Let’s Get Married, Let’s Stay Together and a song off the set list, just for Kentucky, Pretty Woman. The rose toss sometimes included the Rev. to take off his suit jacket. Every time he took it off, screams in the crowd followed. There was also a Motown revue, which also included two Sam Cooke songs as well as Otis Redding, or “Big O” as Al says. During a rendition of Amazing Grace, you could hear the crowd say, “Feels like church up in here”

There were moments where Al let his band showcase their skills. Starting with a guitar solo, he was begging the guitar to sing out. There was a dual drum solo, with percussion intertwining perfectly. He introduced three of the backup vocals as his daughters, calling them “Green Power” The keyboard player got into his solo so much, his throne flew back as he swept the keys, leaving him standing and waiting for a stagehand to help him back to earth. The horn section trio was featured in the standard closing song, Love and Happiness, hitting the notes we all recognize.

 

At one time during the show, Rev. Green says, “I know when you see me sweat, you want to turn the AC on. Leave the fans off, I am going to sweat anyway, it’s my 2^nd job” He further explains that #1 is preaching, #2 is sweating and #3 is singing. There were some short impersonations, with Louie Armstrong and even Elvis coming out of Mr. Green. His falsetto was elegant and strong, leaving no doubt the vocals were still fresh. He even backed off the mic on several occasions, using the amazing acoustics of the room to his advantage. Standing ovations were typical during the show, giving praise back. After 35 or more years of doing this, he humbly utters, “I have love for you all” as he reminded us throughout the show. 

Well, Reverend, Kentucky has love for you as well.



Printed in Ace Weekly, 10/31/10

Michael Franti Makes Himself at Home in the Crowd

At the venue that never sleeps, Busters brought in another living legend to rattle the Distillery District.  Lexington experienced the Michael Franti and Spearhead phenomenon last night that one will not soon forget. An energetic crowd greeted the band with an emotional fever pitch that took the show off the ground before it started. 

In the midst of an emotional Stay Human, Michael channeled some Louie Armstrong into What A Wonderful World. Another familiar cover was Steve Miller Band’s The Joker (perhaps as a subliminal hurrah for the Steve slayer) after an acoustic jam out. The guitar setup was incredible, all wireless system with at least 14 guitars in the cycle.

Michael created a feel good medley that though completely diverse from each other, made perfect sense. Starting with Sublime’s What I Got, Michael mentioned that the one song everyone was singing in the yard of San Quentin was the theme of Sesame Street. The Cookie Monster took over Michael’s body during the song, taking us back to good times. That flowed right into the title track of the new album, Sound of Sunshine, a personal favorite. To come full circle, the close was back into What I Got with a torrid guitar shredding exchange, building the energy from the spiritual journey to another echelon.

For the second night in a row at Busters, the front man gets close to the crowd by inviting some guest dancers. “Michael Franti is the man of my dreams, makes the whole crowds wishes come true.” Candice Healy gasped after her brush with Michael on stage.  Later on, Franti came out into the crowd and went into Smells Like Teen Spirit. He brought up a fan who was in a car wreck on her way to the show to lend support on Hey Hey Hey . 

Franti did connect with the crowd as he talked about him shoeless journey that just hit the 10 year mark. He noted that the Soles4Souls charity can turn $1 into a pair of shoes, http://www.soles4souls.org/ or text 20222 with the word "Franti" to give a $5 donation, putting shoes on an entire family. 

The close was with the familiar  
Say Hey, extended to solidify the bond between the band and the crowd. After the show, Franti stayed around and let anyone who wanted to meet him do so. Franti’s connection with his crowd is incredible, leaving each fan with a piece of him to take with them. 

It’s Rock and Roll and a whole lotta soul!
 

B.o.B. and Jason DeRulo at UK for Homecoming Week

For UK Homecoming Week, the Student Activities Board always tries to bring a show to the students that will pack the house as well as get the energy up going into the weekend. This year’s attraction was two fold: B.o.B. and Jason DeRulo.

Though both performance goals were different, the crowd embraced them both.

 

As Jason DeRulo came out, the female audience, being the majority, went into a hysterical fury. Armed with 4 dancers at his side, DeRulo channeled some Usher and sweat was pouring as he moved across the stage. He covered Justin Timberlake as well as “Tonight’s Gonna Be a Good Night" – Black Eyed Peas and several versions of his own “Ridin Solo” By the end of his set, he had taken off his shirt, and brought up a “special lady” to get down and dirty with, to the delight of the of the ladies.

B.o.B.’s set was geared to show off the musical talents he has been blessed with. That didn’t stop the ladies from screaming for some Bobby Ray. Most hip hop singers/rappers use the gift of gab as their weapon of choice. B.o.B. shows that his musical range is broad, playing several types of guitars for what each song called for (a major upgrade from the Lil Wayne attempts at guitar playing. The crowd favorite was “Magic,” featuring Rivers Cuomo from Weezer (no, he was not there). At the close of “Nothin’ On You,” B.o.B. went into a reggae breakdown, adding some flavor to the song that put him on the map. The DJ called on that the next platinum hit will be “Don’t Let Me Fall” one of the more emotional songs on the debut album. The encore included B.o.B. getting down on the piano for “Ghost in the Machine.”

It was interesting that the headliner for the Homecoming weekend against UGA is a Georgia native. That didn’t stop him from showing favor to the home crowd. His dancers were outfitted in UK shirts and B.o.B’s accessories showcased the blue and white. People who usually wouldn’t dance were moving and grooving.

Levy Bui said, “I think SAB did an amazing job this year. B.o.B. and Jason DeRulo was the best concert I’ve been to thus far at UK. They brought such high energy and excitement."

Hopefully, this energy that was stolen from one of Georgia’s finest will carry over into a UK victory. We will find out if they could really use a wish right now or if they have the magic in them. Go Cats!

Printed in Ace Weekly,  10/21/10

Keep Your Butts Away from my Mama

As I was driving around town the other day, I witnessed a crime, a crime I have seen repeated over and over in my lifetime — someone who had just finished a cigarette looks around and then throws the butt on the ground.

In Kentucky, littering is considered a Class A misdemeanor with a fine up to $500 (KY Statute 512.070). Just to clarify, this is an illegal act. This is not an attack on smokers, who make a personal choice to smoke. My beef is with the littering and the disregard for the environment, law and fellow Earth dwellers.

As my friend Dave Chappelle reminds us, let’s keep it real for a moment. 

According to a 2009 study by the United Health Foundation, Kentucky ranks third in the US for highest population of smokers, at 25.2 percent. The estimated population of KY is 4.2 million residents. That means there are about a million smokers here in KY.

According to several studies, the average smoker consumes between 10-20 cigarettes per day. This would equate to approximately 10-20 million butts or filters to dispose of daily, just in Kentucky alone. For the year, the tally would be between 365 million and 730 million pieces of toxic litter. 

So, “what is the big deal about a few filters on the ground?” you may ask. Filters are usually made with cellulose-acetate wrapped in a paper shell — a change made in the ‘50s to lessen the risk of lung cancer and other diseases. Basically, the filter is plastic and paper. This causes a problem:  cigarette butts do not decompose, but they degrade over 10-15 years. Thus, each one discarded will stay around for a while. Just look on the ground anywhere you walk, including this smoke-free campus. You would be hard pressed to find many areas that have no cigarette litter.

This means that there will be contamination of water supplies — animals will be at risk by eating them and even children picking up and eating them out of curiosity. Let me ask you, when you unwrap a CD, get a drink from a fast food restaurant or open a piece of junk mail, do you just throw it on the ground when you are done? No, you say? Then why would cigarette butts be so different?

Again, I’m not asking people to stop smoking, but reconsider your choice after the nicotine rush is over. We all live here together and should respect this planet responsibly.

So keep your butts away from my mama (Mother Earth).

(Photo credit to Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images)

Printed in the KY Kernel, 10/20/10

An Interview and Post Show Recap with Robert Randolph

Robert Randolph Brings Us Home on Sunday at Busters

Lexington has been blessed with a nice wave of music acts recently, mainly due to the Equestrian Games and accompanying Alltech Fortnight Festival. These next two days go a long way to continue the trend and prevent a musical hangover. Two current heavyweights of the music realm, Robert Randolph and the Family Band Sunday night, then Michael Franti and Spearhead on Monday will be jamming the walls of Busters. I was able to catch Robert Randolph on his way to Atlanta and get to know the man behind the Sacred Steel.

What drove him to play the slide guitar? Some of the greats he followed in the beginning were Henry Nelson, Ted Beard and Willie Eason and being a witness to the House of God main musical instrument, the pedal steel.

“Growing up in the church and watching guys play and by learning from those guys and listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn later on --really trying to take the pedal steel slide guitar to another world of creativity and the way other guitar players approach it like SRV and Hendrix -- for me was a big motivational thing.”

He wanted to take the pedal steel outside the mainstream. “It’s the next thing, I think of guitar music, because the history of just guitars period. This new way of sliding and, for me, mainly trying to imitate the human voice, such as Aretha Franklin and Sam Cooke, with that kind of authority. That to me was the bones of what really started to drive me.”

Acclaimed as best of the best was a rare honor when he was included as part of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. It is even more rare when a musician is currently playing, growing and still reaching their prime. For keeping his ego in check. He says, “You gotta remain humble in order to grow in every aspect. Without being humble, you can’t grow, you can’t take any advice, you don’t want to listen to anybody. That’s just the way it rolls.”

When you talk about the Top 100 list, many people believe Jimi Hendrix to have the #1 headband. The last three years has been fortunate to have Robert adding the pedal steel guitar to the celebration of Hendrix. “It's been a treat to be a part of these eclectic guitar players and guys with different styles that get together to see how Hendrix has influenced everyone.”

Many artists strike while the iron's hot, but then fade out and lose their relevance, or hit a plateau. He comments, “You always want to make sure you are making good music, whether it's radio hits or not because we want to be doing this when we are 50 or 60 years old. I am nowhere near where I really want to be. I am learning new stuff everyday. That is the key, you want to get better, you want to make good music and work with other artists. Always make sure the core of the fans are happy. Those are the ones that we all make music for out there. That’s what its all about.”

Randolph is no stranger to Kentucky, having played the Master Musicians Festival in Somerset this past July. Asked what Lexington should expect tonight, he wants you to be ready for a loud, good, wholesome, rocking time where you sing and dance and let it all out. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band Delivers a Soul Explosion

 

A near sell out crowd witnessed a living legend call the shot and hit a bomb out of the park. Once Robert Randolph and the Family Band struck a chord, the musical journey took off. From lounging on the slide, playing on the ground and running in place in his chair while playing, Randolph brought a solid A game into Busters tonight. At one point, he called 20 ladies onto stage, of course after getting the crowd’s approval. After her moment with the soulful steel, Shawn Livingston says, “Robert Randolph feels my soul.”

 

Just when you thought the show was in a groove, you near a recognizable tune. That’s right, they covered Thriller in an instrumental style. The pedal steel can wail some MJ. Another cover they dropped was Black Water by the Doobie Brothers. Later on, he brought up a few different players up from the crowd to play a little guitar while Robert was on his feet, playing a candy red Tele. The house was officially brought down when the band whipped into "Aint Nothin Wrong With That." Since he asked so nicely, the crowd started to lose control, flailing arms and moving in unison to the beat.

This was a spiritual night on the most soulful level. The word is out about Robert Randolph. If you got this show, you probably still feel it. For the rest, just ask someone to share the soul. I am sure they won’t mind.

Printed in Ace Weekly, 10/17/10