Cases of Abita and Pat O’Brien’s Hurricane mixed were shipped in to turn the sold out Westside club into the closest approximation of a French Quarter haunt as two New Orleans acts (and friends) brought the jambalaya flavor north. The night was ‘hosted’ by “The Rent Is 2 Damn High” guy himself, Jimmy McMillian who launched into his catch phrase multiple times to the delight of the fans in attendance.
Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue started things and blew it up from the get up with some of their best instrumentals off Backatown. “Suburbia” was a screeching eastern tinged rocker that wah-wah ladled guitar work. The group’s cover of Allen Toussaints “On Your Way Down” was brilliant as was the crowd pumper upper “Get Your Groove On” which contained a massive layered jam section from Orleans Avenue that displayed their experimentation and interplay. While the group is certainly tight, there is one radiant star of this show, Troy Andrews aka Trombone Shorty. World class talent on trumpet and trombone he can blow for days and commands your attention whenever he picks up his brass.
The trumpet solo that began the Caribbean percussion inspired “St James Infirmary” was epic as was the holding of an endless note in their version of “Sunnyside of the Street”. The James Brown medley presented by the band was jacked up and funky complete with “Too Hot in the, Hot Tub” reference from the classic SNL sketch. “Feel Like Funking It Up” came through in almost every song and the crowd did just that with drunken abandon.
During the set break we were treated to the High and Mighty Brass Band who played surprising 5 song set in the middle of the crowd and really slammed home the feelings of exuberance contained in countless New Orleans parades. They walked up the floor to the front of the stage ending their set with “All On A Mardi Gras Day” and the joy was palpable; we were all in on the fun.
While set lengths were the same, it may have been a mistake to have Galactic act as the show closer; their polished brand of smooth funk was well maintained but lacked the party energy that flowed from Trombone Shorty’s performance. Galactic always works best when they have guests on stage with them and tonight was no exception as the fantastic voice of Cyril Neville was on hand to sing some soul and even play a few congas with the boys.
Songs flowed in and out of as the band played a funky few stanzas of “Manteca” and Corey Henry from Rebirth Brass Band (who was contributing on trombone for the set) completely ripped it with some Outkast horns straight out of “SpottieOttieDopaliscious”. Other guests amped up the audience as Living Colour front man Corey Glover belted out a cover of Swamp Dogg’s “Total Destruction To Your Mind”, grooved up some Hendrix with “Crosstown Traffic” and dipped into his own catalog with “Love Rears It’s Ugly Head”.
The party kept a’rolling straight into Sunday morning and for those who aren’t heading down to the Big Easy for this Mardi Gras it was good to see a part of it arrive in full funky mode to The Big Apple for a memorable night.
