2011

After the music is over on the main stages of the Summer Camp Festival, the action shifts to the Red Barn for the festival’s late night shows. Thanks to the

HT faves Steely Dan returns to the road in 2011 for the Shuffle Diplomacy Twenty Eleven tour which kicks off on July 2 at the WAMU Theater in Seattle, WA

Seeing Soulive last Friday at Brooklyn Bowl during their 10-night run got us thinking about what a force the band is in the world of live music. Soulive appeals to the old and young, black and white, jazz-nut and hip-hop fan alike. We danced our asses off and left Brooklyn satisfied at 2:30AM. Below are our musings on the history of the funk/jazz trio and why 3GM officially dubs them NYC’s band, along with photos from the all-star lineup that took the stage last Friday, including Robert Randolph, Living Colour singer, Corey Glover, and many others. (Photos and captions by Conor Kelley)

[Legendary frontman Corey Glover (Living Colour) channeled his ’60s idols for an unforgettable guest performance, backed by the best possible soul/funk lineup going right now.]

Jonathan Kosakow on Soulive’s history:

My God, has it been 12 years already? I still remember rocking out to Get Down and Turn It Out like it was yesterday, driving my car through the twists and turns of Connecticut back roads, smacking the steering wheel and the dashboard along with Alan Evans’ drums and practically skidding off the road into the reservoir because Kraz was just wailing, man. Actually, wait, that does feel like 12 years ago, but those moments are still very much in my memory.

[Kraz shows pretty clearly that this was the highest-energy performance of Bowlive II so far and everyone in the house knew it.]

Another time, a friend and I were driving home from the Waterloo Village Music Festival in Jersey, sometime around 2001 or 2002, and needed some solid music to keep us awake through the stench of I-95 at two in the morning. We had just gotten through Medeski Martin & Wood’s Combustication and wanted to keep the groove going, so we put on Turn It Out, Soulive’s second release and first live album. Immediately, we knew something was missing: after the fullness, exploration, and ultimate groove of MMW, Soulive just wasn’t what we were looking for. The talent was there, but something else was missing. My friend ejected the disc and put on Slip Stitch & Pass, a never-fail. I was devastated. I loved Soulive, and I still do, but I had to concede defeat.

I couldn’t put my finger on what was missing until last March when I saw them absolutely destroy the Brooklyn Bowl during the first annual Bowlive.

READ ON for more from 3GM on why Soulive is NYC’s band…

We can’t help but feel like a little kid waking up on Christmas morning about to open their presents as tonight marks the start of the Allman Brothers Band’s March