MusicMarauders Presents: Toubab Krewe 3.21.13

-

The Fox Theatre
Boulder, CO

Words By J-man
Photos By Kevin Hahn

Toubab Krewe opened up their Rocky Mountain High Winter Tour at The Fox Theatre in Boulder, CO on Thursday. The tour will take the Asheville, NC band from Boulder to Telluride passing through almost all of Colorado's major markets! The evening began with See-I feat. members of Thievery Corporation and their cheap overdone brand of reggae that tapped into all of the tacky audience reaction ploys. "How are you doing Denver?" (while the show was actually in Boulder) "Clap your hands if you want to here music!" "Scream if you like reggae!" The weak instrumentation clashed with misplaced high pitched yells, that filled the room for an extended opening set. The young crowd seemed into the music, yelling and screaming uncontrollably as directed by the gentleman on stage commanding the crowd. A short time later See-I's set ended and the buzz took over for Toubab Krewe.


Toubab hit the stage to the excitement of the growing crowd, but this time with new member, Terrence Houston (Drums). Terrance's counterpart was Luke Quaranta (Percussion). Together, they created so many fantastic layers, rhythms and polyrhythms that became the glue for the adventurous front line that included David Pransky (Bass), who helped round out the fantastic rhythm section, Drew Heller (Guitar) and Justin Perkins (Kora, Kamelngoni, Guitar). The combination of Heller and Perkins reflected experience and direction that took listeners on an almost psychedelic and tribal journey that was driven by a clear rock sound. That night, Toubab sounded as tight and refined as many had ever heard them sound. Toubab is at a point in their development where the music has progressed to a point of tightening and increased structure. Soon folks will be saying things like "I am an old school Toubab fan" and "I dig Toubab's older sound." For many, this point is crucial in the band's expansion to a larger fan base and increased following. If the music were to remain the same without progressing, what would that say about the band and the music itself?


What the Boulder crowd was treated to on Thursday was fantastic. For those who were not familiar with Toubab, it seemed a pleasant surprise. For those who were, it was a step forward in the musical saga that is Toubab Krewe. The combination of African melodies and rhythms mixed with an almost popular rock appraoch to create such a unique and appealing sound that cannot be overlooked. Toubab is on the climb to greatness. Trust us when we say, this is a band not to be missed. Catch Toubab on the second half of their Colorado tour and be sure to catch them this June at LOHI Music Festival!

Kevin's Photo Gallery

www.toubabkrewe.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