The New Orleans long-running funk outfit Galactic pulled into Brooklyn Bowl on Friday, January 31st, for the first gig of a two-night stand in Williamsburg that wrapped up their mini Northeast winter tour. The group was firing on all cylinders as they played new jams, tasty covers, and tried and true crowd favorites.
Opening up this night was the NYC-based Honey Marmalade, who brought their retro rock to the stage behind the powerful voice of lead singer Olivia Klein. The outfit spread out as a mix of smooth soul sax and twinkling keys altered the sound. Klein’s voice is the showcase as she mixed musical theater chops into covers by Janis Joplin (“Half Moon”), a spoken word poetry offering, and a closing original that morphed into Bill Withers’s “Use Me”.
After a long set break, the headliners took the stage. Featuring the dynamic vocals of Angelika “Jelly” Joseph, the band, Robert Mercurio – bass guitar, Jeff Raines – guitar, Richard Vogel – Hammond organ, Stanton Moore – drums, Ben Ellman – saxophone, harmonica, Eric Gordon – trumpet, blasted out with “Clap Your Hands” as Joseph played the hype woman role, getting the crowd moving.
This night, Galactic’s high-powered live set balanced out funky instrumentals with Joseph-led vocal workouts. “Hey Na Na,” one of the band’s many tributes to their hometown, had a killer bass groove bumping behind the shout-along vocals, while “Cineramascope” ditched the singing for a massive funk jam that was a set highlight, complete with extended solos and musical dexterity.
The band has a new album due in April that they recorded with Irma Thomas, Audience With The Queen, and a few songs from that upcoming release were sung by Joseph. The new efforts, “Lady Liberty” and “People” as well as a stirring version of “Puppet on a String”, all move the band’s vibe in a soulful direction that works well amongst the funk.
That groove is where the band slow cooks their gumbo as “Go Go” was a joyous outing that featured breaks and horns that were inspired by The Meters while a spin through Roberta Flack’s “Compared To What” brought out special guest Lucas Ellman to contribute on the brass showcase, keeping the funky sounds blowing. Shifting gears, the band also rocked out hard with some Led Zeppelin, covering “How Many More Times” that morphed into a drum solo from Moore, who propulsively guided the group all night.
The exuberant set closed with Jelly spitting out some rhymes and Wu-Tang Clan lines with the pumping combo of “Dolly Diva” and “FYA” as head bops and the hip hop groove rolled deep. An encore of circling solos, including a massive bass run by Mercurio, melded into Lee Dorsey’s “Yes We Can Can,” putting a New Orleans funky soul cap on the evening as the Crescent City outfit kept their hometown legendary artists sounds alive while successfully mixing in their own style.
