On Friday November 5, 2012, the Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia, PA, hosted The Royal Family Ball featuring Soulive and Lettuce. In it’s earlier years the Theatre of Living Arts served as a movie house, often hosting a midnight screening of The Rocky Horror PictureShow. This weekend, the modest TLA’s amazing acoustics complimented the rhythmic groove set forth by the bands, showcasing the electric bass and drums.
Both Soulive and Lettuce represent The Royal Family Records, bands that have an incredibly loyal fan base that vary in age and musical taste. The Royal Family Records following share a passion for getting funky and dancing all night long. These two bands inclusion of melody and harmony through their use of organ and horns make them unique in the realm of funk. Soulive opened the concert and the crowd rose to their feet immediately. They played a solid set up until Lettuce took the stage and opened with their original track “Let the funk flow”. The audience was just as passionate about this groovy music as the bands were and the theatre buzzed with energy as everyoneboogied out.
Soulive was formed in 1999 and after 13 years of funkifying audiences, this band has grown into one of the most sought after soul funk trios. The trio consists of the Evans brothers, Alan Evans on the drums and Neal Evans on the Keyboard, and Eric Krasno on the guitar. The music of this soulful group has been compared to the funk of the 60’s. The three were joined on stage by soul vocalist Nigel Hall, who infused the audience with a passion few lead vocalists, can instill.
The Beatles influence on Soulive is palpable through their 2010 album Rubber Soulive, an 11 track instrumental hosting their own funk versions of the Beatles classics. At the beginning of the show, Soulive played their funk version of “Eleanor Rigby”, an upbeat and beloved song that the band’s densely instrumental take on which was hypnotizing! The fast tempo infused with a heavy bass groove combined the elements of jazz and funk. They also played “Tuesday Night’s Squad”, one of the crowd’s favorites along with “Lenny”, a Stevie Ray Vaughn song they often cover. Soulive played songs from their latest four-track EP, Spark! This album is more about the jamming than the actual song, showcasing all of the artists’ musical talents. Featuring saxophonist, Karl Denson, Spark!elicits a jazzier feel than their previous albums.
Next Lettuce took the stage, the modern day rulers of old school funk. The band consists of Adam Deitch on the drums, Eric Coomes on bass, Eric Krasno on guitar, Adam Smirnoff on the six string guitar, Neal Evans on keyboard, Ryan Zoldis on saxophone, Rashawn Ross on trumpet, Brian Thomas, Chochemea Gastelum on horns and Nigel Hall as lead vocalist. Lettuce is leading funk in a new direction. Lettuce recently released their third studio album titled Fly, which incorporates hip-hop and heavy bass, drawing on styles tracing back to the early 60s to 80s. Lettuce’s gritty funk smacked the crowd, setting off a crazy dance party of rhythmic groove.
Throughout the night, minds were shattered by incredible guitar solos, infectious saxophone, unbelievably soulful vocals, rich beats, and torrential bass. Lettuce and the fervent crowd really “let the funk flow” as exclaimed by Eric Coomes earlier in the night. The band closed the night with some James Brown, the audience was getting down to that funk until the very end of the concert. One could not have asked for a better funk dance party! The crowd left revitalized from the soulful musical journey of the night.
Catch Lettuce at the Brooklyn Bowl on December 13! Tickets can be purchased here.
Review by Rebecca Wolfe
Photography by Amanda Neff
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