LOHI Music Festival Presents: Joey Porter's Shady Business & Eddie Roberts 3.23.13

-

Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Denver, CO

Words & Photos By Brad Yeakel

After a Friday night of superb funk, I returned to Cervantes to check out a very special show. Eddie Roberts (New Mastersounds) opened the show with his band, the West Coast Sounds. Having seen them headline the Other Side on Friday, I wondered how the energy would change moving to the larger room and crowd, but with a shorter set. The set got a slower start than Friday, but seemed to pick up velocity as it went on. The crowd filled in the floor by the end of the set, and everyone appeared to be on board. A friend pointed out that it was like the kind of music Diana Ross' backing band would play, just way faster. As I contemplated the statement, I heard what he meant. The clean tones that define Eddie's style were accompanied by succinct horn lines, soulful organ, and funk-soul flavor. What did not sound like an R&B backing band was Roberts' solo work, which was predictably phenomenal. The West Coast Sounds were great both nights and I'd recommend checking them out if they come your way.

Last year I came out to see Joey Porter's Shady Business and was very impressed with the lineup of musicians. I'd anticipated this year's show from the day I saw it was announced. With a lineup that included members of 3 of my favorite live bands, the Motet, Lettuce, and the New Mastersounds I was beyond pumped. As the band took the stage, it was bookended by keyboard wizards Joey Porter (Motet) and Nigel Hall (Lettuce/ Warren Haynes Band). Between them was an all star lineup of funk musicians including Eric Krasno (Lettuce/ Soulive), Garrett Sayers (Motet/ Kyle Hollingsworth Band), Dave Watts (Motet), Kim Dawson (Motet), the Shady Horns (Lettuce), Eddie Roberts (New Mastersounds), Dominic Lali (Big Gigantic), LaDamion Massey, and many more. With so much talent on the stage, it would have been easy for the sound to get too busy, but the players were extremely respectful of each other's space and allowed the solos to float around the band easily. The funk they dropped was dirty, deep, chunky, and gritty. They traversed traditional funk and disco grooves with soul and some synthy 80's party music.

Friday night, Eddie Roberts had Eric Krasno sit in with the West Coast Sounds, and the two of them had a fantastic dual. Shady Business had far less of that interplay between the two. Because of the nature of a band that at times had up to 15 musicians on stage, there wasn't a whole lot of time for them to link up and tear it up. While I felt it would have been a lot of fun to see them trade solos, it wouldn't have served the music as well... And that was the most impressive thing of all. Every single person played within their role, provided crisp accompaniment and scorched their solos when the time came. The camaraderie and respect among the musicians on stage was great to watch, like a bunch of old friends having a reunion. Fun was contagious, and it leaked out of their instruments, through the speakers, and into our dancing souls. The highlight of the evening for me was their cover of Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothing." The extended jam on this tune was thick, sticky, and deep. I've always loved that grindy low end of the clavinova, and Stevie Wonder tunes usually deliver. As I danced in a bouncing crowd of smiles, I was thankful that Joey Porter had put together such an incredible group of musicians for our entertainment, I couldn't wait to do it again next year!

Brad's Photo Gallery

www.cervantesmasterpiece.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Livetronica Sampler 3.22.11

-
Image
Words by Greg Molitor ( ReMIND Photography ) Ozric Tentacles This British group has proven innovative throughout the years offering a space-rock meets psytrance sound that remains alive to this day. Though never having a major record label, Ozric Tentacles has produced 28 albums of diverse psychedelia throughout its career. The band met at the Stonehenge Free Festival in 1983 and truly fathered livetronica music with its use of sequencers and synthesizers. Simply put, there would be no livetronica without Ozric Tentacles. www.ozrics.com Octopus Nebula Colorado’s Octopus Nebula has certainly hit its stride as of late with its constant touring and increased festival interest. The group expands on the deep sounds of highly regarded acts such as STS9 and Shpongle but also carves a path of its own with its fresh takes on synthesizer tones and sampling in the live setting. Octopus Nebula Live at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom on March 26, 2010. <--- Direct Archive Link www.octopus
Read more

Buckethead: Gimmick or Guitar God?

-
Image
Words & Photos By Nicholas Stock ( phatphlogblog.blogspot.com ) At what point does the gimmick overshadow the performance? The obvious answer is Buckethead. The man is an amazing guitarist but something is not right in this world. The idea a performer who dons a KFC chicken bucket on his head for a concert has always intrigued me, and some of his side projects such as Colonel Claypool’s Bernie Bucket of Brains have been huge successes. However his performance last weekend in Fort Collins simply left me perplexed. From his robotic dancing, to his nunchuck display, to the fact the he performed with an iPod rather than a band all added to my confusion. Going into the show I was ready to be blown away, despite rumblings of disgruntled fans from the previous night’s show at The Gothic. Buckethead had had some sound issues and some missed cues in Denver but I was still trying to be positive for the show in Fort Collins. It did go off without a hitch technically but that was the least
Read more

Billy Strings 4.18.19

-
Image
Salvage Station Asheville, NC Words by Jason Mebane Photos by J. Scott Shrader Photography When asked to write a review of last week's Billy Strings show at Asheville, North Carolina's Salvage Station I almost passed on it. I just wrote a review of his last Asheville show a few months ago and I thought it may be hard to come up with another set of words to describe to the readers exactly what a Billy Strings show is all about. I am sure there are a plethora of other reviews that other people have written focusing on how well he has mastered his instrument. I suppose I could recycle those thoughts and just sit here typing out a few adjectives describing each note Billy and his superb backing band played this past Thursday night, but that wouldn't be fun for me. Additionally I'd imagine a review like that wouldn't keep your attention either. Instead I have decided to focus on a few random parts of the Billy Strings show that seemed interesting to me. One: B
Read more

Shwarma, Cloud Catcher & Kaepora 6.21.24

-
Image
Cervantes Other Side Denver, CO Words & Photos by Pavel Gábor Kaplan Two weeks ago, Denver locals Shwarma graced the stage at Cervantes’ Other Side for the second time as headliners, with support from other Denver locals Cloud Catcher (stoner metal/power metal) and Kaepora (metal/funk/fusion). Coincidentally, both this year’s Summer Solstice and the Strawberry Full Moon transpired around Shwarma’s Album Release show, with the full moon falling on the night of the show. Certainly strong energy to power up the night of dancing and raging - from appropriately cosmic occurrences for a cosmically cool bill. It’s rare to have a full moon actually fall on the same day as a solstice. However, something not very rare is an unforgettable performance from Shwarma at Cervantes! I totally enjoyed photographing their Otherside shows last February when they opened for Lespecial to perform to a sold-out Ballroom-side, as well as their performance last Halloween at ‘Oogie Boogie’ alongside Dopapod,
Read more

Yarmony Music Festival 6.28 & 6.29.24

-
Image
Rancho Del Rio Bond, CO Words by J. Picard Photos by Scott Seifert Gratitude and appreciation have been the foundation of our time at Yarmony Music Festival (formerly, YarmonyGrass). Gratitude for the beauty of the space, Rancho Del Rio, and the mighty Colorado River that flows through it. Appreciation for the experiences, friendships and memories created. Over the span of the fourteen years that we've attended, we have seen firsthand a bonding of a core group of people who have become great friends, characters in each others' stories and in some cases, life partners. Following the incredible energy of the 2019 festival it was announced that Yarmony would be put to rest, to the dismay of many pirates. Though times got strange and folks were pushed apart, there was still a low, slow, pulse beating in the background. We did what we could to keep the spirit of the memory alive until one unsuspecting day, a long five years later, promoter Andrew McConathy announced that from its re
Read more