|
Now, I’m not a religious
man, and I don’t believe in pushing my beliefs on others, but last night
(Aug. 1st at 4th and B in downtown San Diego), I went to Church.
And I came away a believer. Well, at least I think it was some sort of
Church, because from what I had heard, Robert Randolph and the Family Band
have some connection to gospel music and the Church. One thing is for sure,
the insistent beat of the drums and the incredible playing of the band put
many in the audience in - for lack of a better word - a religious like
frenzy that left me matching these images up to the superficial ones I have
stocked away in my mind of a black Church. But no matter, let us retrace
our steps.
Robert Randolph and the
Family Band first came to my attention during this year’s shockingly good
Grammy awards. During the section that could only appropriately be called
the black music concerto, Robert Randolph and company were wedged in with
the likes of Earth Wind and Fire, Big Boi from Outkast, and Parliament
Funkadelic. At the time, I was thinking ‘Who? Why are these guys sharing
billing with legends of music? Shouldn’t James Brown be here?’ Well, it
would have been great if Mr. Brown had made an appearance, no doubt, but all
my worries about the relevance of Robert Randolph and the Family Band wore
off about thirty seconds into their live Grammy performance of “More Love”.
The opening bass line tipped me off that this might be worth listening to,
and by the time the call and response first few lyrics were completed
between Randolph and his falsetto enhanced bass player, I was hooked to this
modern day funk masterpiece. After that episode, I had in fact done some
cursory research into Randolph and his cohorts and discovered that they had
emerged from the church; Randolph’s trademark was the sit down instrument
known, to him, as the sacred steel and to others as the pedal steel. The
instrument, and the way he used it emerged from his connection to a specific
Church called the House of God, but no matter. For others the pedal steel
was used in Country or Hawaiian music providing a slow wine or a hula
counterpart. For Randolph it approximates a Jimi Hendrix solo, scratching
and clawing its way into your psyche. On Sunday night Jimi was given heavy
doses of props in the form of a full fledged vocal and instrumental cover of
Purple Haze.
But let’s not get ahead
of ourselves. In my research I had also discovered that the consensus on
young Robert Randolph and his emerging urban gospel funk jam band was that
they were off-the-chain outrageous live and that their sole studio album
didn’t do their live show justice. So I put it in the back of my mind.
Flash forward to August 1 and a chance to see the hype live. Regretting
that a Sunday night of HBO would have to be postponed, I ponied up for the
$22.50 ticket and arrived early enough to empty out my wallet on a wide
variety of beer at the nearby Yardhouse, which features 101 beers on tap,
and then on $4 undersized Bud Lights at the venue. The family band was
preceded by a bland but passable blues band; you know the kind that’s an all
white band that immediately does a cover of a Stevie Ray Vaughn song? At
least they covered Albert King as well. No matter, the harmonica/saxophone
player had some talent and the blues would be a good warm up for what we
would experience later. And I do mean experience. I mean shouting and
hollerin’ and sweating and dancing and rejoicing when the song hits a higher
key where a lesser band would have brought it to a close.
Robert Randolph and his
Family Band hit the stage at about 9:45, with Randolph decked out in a
custom throwback Padres jersey and his trademark derby hat. Right off the
bat the band launched into a rousing jam that took off with a lead solo by
the organist, here playing violin, approximating the Beverly Hills Cop Theme
(yes that’s as dope as it sounds). For this first number, Randolph joined
his drummer, bassist, and rhythm guitar player on a standard six string
electric. After this ten minute instrumental jam had sufficiently loosened
up the crowd, Randolph sat down at the sacred steel, the organist put down
his violin, and the band launched into the aforementioned Purple Haze,
stretched out for the good of the jam. This one set the tone for the night;
the jam would go anywhere and everywhere, and then when you thought the dam
would break, Randolph would find a place about twenty times higher than
previously thought possible on his sacred steel, all pushed on by thumping
bass and insistent drumming. Take a deep breath and relax because Haze was
followed with a mellow version of the Curtis Mayfield penned Impressions
classic “People Get Ready” with the rhythm guitarist on lead vocal (I felt I
was one of the few in the crowd who really appreciated this and my
shout of “Curtis Mayfield” was rewarded only with odd looks).
Other highlights included
an instrumental version of “Billie Jean” with Randolph’s sacred steel lead
mimicking the vocals. And then there was the requisite ‘something for the
ladies’ which, in this case meant a rollicking ten minute jam that
alternated between a “Who Do Ya Love?” type vamp sans drums and an uptempo
blues jam say in the key of “Shake, Rattle, and Roll.” What made this song
for the ladies were two things. For one, the lyrics insisted that they
‘shake it’ and for another the twenty beautiful women brought onstage for
the song did just that, one particularly adventurous and positively slithery
female donning Randolph’s discarded cap. After the women were taken from
the stage kicking and screamin’ another colossal jam took place, this time
with a little bit of showing off as Randolph, mid-jam, switched places with
his drummer (Randolph’s cousin) who showed his own steel pedal prowess while
Randolph kept time. Just for good measure, the organ player switched places
with the rhythm guitarist and Randolph jumped onto bass, the point well
taken and well established… dudes can play!
Of course, it had been
predicted down to a drink bet by this online journalist that “More Love”,
the song that shocked the Grammy crowd, would be the encore, and it was. It
was “More Love” and “More Love” as this twelve minute jam twisted and turned
its way from the aforementioned tune into a reggae-flavored “Don’t Worry be
Happy” and an instrumental “Isn’t She Lovely” once again with Randolph’s
instrument of choice mimicking the vocals before retreating to “More Love’s”
opening licks.
To say that I was
satisfied with this show would be an understatement. To say that I was awe
inspired would be more accurate. With each song, Randolph and the Family
Band managed to infuse new life into the tradition of the live black band,
mixing blues, gospel, rock, funk, and a little bit of country. While
waiting for the band to take stage, an incredibly drunk young man stumbled
his way thru the masses, drink steadily spilling, shoes in his back pocket,
rambling on about the show that we were about to see. He had been following
this band for six years and had seen them ’37 times’ since he was 16. They
were the next big thing on the jam band circuit and were due to blow
anytime, he told anyone within earshot. Why, they were surely gonna be the
next Dave Matthews Band! Let’s hope not, because what I saw on Sunday
August first would indicate that they could only be the first Robert
Randolph and the Family Band, one of the best live shows on the planet.
-Colin O'Dell
DISCUSS THIS TOPIC ON THE MESSAGE BOARD
|
