Soulive 2005-08-20

*If you enjoy this show, you might also enjoy similar posts on Deep Banana Blackout, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, and Addison Groove Project.




Soulive 2005-08-20 Celebraterie Festival Erie, PA (Download)

I don't know why Dave and I do this to ourselves. He just finished a show review of the Hardest Band in the Universe to Genre-fy, and here I am trying to talk about a band only slightly less difficult to describe. A lot of the bands that I follow do a lot of this style melding, and it's no small part of why I like them so much. Musicians who turn live performances into the art-form it has become understand that their mission is greater than traveling to a bunch of places to play the same songs over and over.

I know some people hate looking at music as a business, but that doesn't change the fact that it's exactly that. So let's look at a band using a business analogy: The music of a great band is like a great software package. It starts with a solid base of something that is in demand, and it is constantly revised and improved based on what what will keep the end user (or fan) coming back for more. Does anyone think that The Dead would have nearly the following they still do if not for the fact that they toured constantly and were always learning and growing along the way...?

There is an excitement and anticipation for what will come from the next stop on the tour. What new cover or rare song might make it on to the setlist...? The best of the best (The Grateful Dead, Phish, Govt. Mule, Umphree's McGee, Widespread Panic, etc.) recognize that the product of their endless touring is more than showing up in different places and playing. It's about creating a running narrative with their fans that will keep them coming back for more, and it's also about the growth of the band itself.

A Soulive show illustrates this perfectly. The first time I ever saw this band was at the (unfortunately now defunct) Berkshire Mountain Music Festival. They played short sets each day of the festival and I was so impressed with the diversity of their sound and repertoire that I became a fan and remain one today. Was I hearing a jazz band, a live hip-hop band, or a James Brown/Jimi Hendrix cover band? No, I was hearing what can only be described as Soulive.

Tim Hammer of LAist- What do you think has been the secret to Soulive’s success?

Eric Krasno- I think it’s what we do with our live shows. We always bring energy to our live shows that our fans can appreciate. We are also trying to change what we do. We’ve been criticized a lot for changing our sound but in the end of it all, that’s what makes us happy. That’s really what helps us stay into this thing and stay fresh and stay excited.

Soulive is jazz and funk seasoned periodically with R&B, rock, hip-hop, reggae, and whatever else they feel like at any given time. Although centered around the trio of Eric Krasno, Alan Evans, and Neil Evans, the lineup of the band has also reflected the constant evolution of their sound, including at various times Sam Kininger, Rashawn Ross, Ryan Zoidis, Toussaint Yeshua, and others.

Here's "Reverb", which is included on the setlist for today's show-


This show is from 2005 and features the band in its 2nd "incarnation", when it included the Sam Kininger-led horn section and shows were more vocal heavy than they had been previously. The set is performed before an obviously involved audience, and the band has them worked into a frenzy by the end of it. In general, this was a very special time in the sonic adventure Soulive is on, and I think you'll be able to hear that. Some favorites of mine are the dub-infused "Reverb", a version of "Do it Again" with some stellar work on the keys and vocals reminiscent of "The Hardest Working Man in Showbusiness", and their covers of "Slippin' into Darkness" and "Crosstown Traffic". Here's the whole setlist:

1) Intro>Spinna>Uncle Jr., Vapor , Reverb, Slippin' Into Darkness *, One In Seven, I Know You Got Soul (Bobby Byrd), Crosstown Traffic, Do It Again *, (Crowd Noise), Tighten Up *

* Alan Evans on vocals

Sound is a B+, thanks to Levi Hunt for taping this show and DJ Necco for transferring it. Photo Credit is to the band's website, interview credit goes to Tim Hammer and the LAist.

-Soulive has a somewhat new album out entitled "No Place Like Soul" and I highly recommend checking it out if you liked this performance. The link above allows you to purchase it directly from the band's website and maximize your financial support to them.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band

Robert Randolph and the Family Band 2005-7-29 Starland Ballroom Sayreville, NJ (dowload)

Does great music sometimes compel you to throw your hands up and let out a "HELL YEAH!", much to the disdain of your significant other/children/co-workers/etc.? Do you enjoy this guilty pleasure?

If you've answered yes to these questions, I've got just the show for you, and if you're not on your feet by the end of this one, I'll give you your money back.

(Of course, you haven't paid any money...But we'll worry about that later, OK?)



If a Robert Randolph and the Family Band show is vaguely reminiscent of every hands-in-the-air Sunday morning church service you've ever seen (think Blues Brothers, the James Brown church scene), this isn't an accident. Randolph and the band cut their teeth playing in the band at the House of God Church in New Jersey. Way back when it was founded, the church couldn't afford an organ, so they opted for a pedal steel, or "Sacred Steel", instead.

(Excerpt from a Puremusic Interview with Robert Randolph):

PM: And it's the worship instrument in the House of God more than the organ, is that right?

RR: Yeah, exactly.

PM: That's interesting, because I've always thought that it's an eerily human sounding axe. I mean, it really sounds like somebody crying and somebody laughing, you know.

RR: Yeah. I mean, that's the way we was taught up to play it, like a singer moans and groans and weeps and hollers and screams, like the old Southern Baptist singers. You know how people in church go [singing] mmm-hmmm, and do a lot of moaning and carrying on.

This show comes to us from the Starland Ballroom in the band's home state of New Jersey, and it's a scorcher right out of the gate. The band opens with "Run For Your Life", a frantic get off your ass and move kind of tune that showcases the pedal steel really well. Both the cut and the crowd enthusiasm make this sound like a show ender rather than the first song of the night. (Check out a video snippet of this track being performed at this very show. Video is shaky, but the sound quality as pretty good for the 'Tube).

It just gets hotter from there, and this is how the set went down:

Jam>Run For Your Life, I Need More Love, The March, She Waits, Shake Your Hips, Dont Bring Me Down, Everything Is Going To Be Alright, Nobody, Dont Worry Be Happy>Squeeze>Soul Refreshing>Purple Haze, Roll Up>Warpigs jam>Roll Up

Sound quality for this set is an A-, there's a few variances in volume which keep it from being a solid A. The show was taped by Tim in Jersey, thank you Tim! Photo credit.