Halloween weekend began perfectly last Thursday, October 29th, at Tractor Tavern in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, WA, with Turkuaz headlining and The Quick and Easy Boys and Fabulous Party Boys providing some funky support.
When the Quick and Easy Boys took the stage, the crowd was thin and standing towards the back of the room. Within only a few short minutes, it was clear that they were not the type of band to let this get to them. Bassist Sean Badders wasted no time, filling the room with his deep, booming vocals while helping to create an infectious groove that got the small crowd moving. One song segued into another after a nice improv section, and Badders stepped back to the mic to deliver a wonderful falsetto. Anchored by guitarist Jimmy Russell’s harmony vocals, they pushed forward into more improvisation. Drummer Casey Anderson stole the show in this improv section with strong, jazzy cymbal work as he accelerated the tempo and pushed the band to new heights. The segment continued with Funkadelic inspired jamming, eventually giving way to a great cover of Frank Zappa’s “Willie the Pimp”.
All in all, they did not pause once in the first 36 minutes after taking the stage, an impressive and unexpected feat. The deft segues and improvisational work left little doubt that this alt-rock trio is a jamband as well. At that point in the show, the Portland-based musicians introduced themselves to the crowd, and then broke it down again for another few tunes before leaving the stage with the crowd warmed up and ready to go.
Seattle locals the Fabulous Party Boys took the stage next. The crowd had grown a larger by this point, and the band did a great job of keeping them dancing. Their wonderful horn section (including a tuba, trumpet and saxophone) gave them a nice, full sound that acted as the perfect bridge between the power trio jamming of the Quick and Easy Boys and the full wall-of-sound coming up next from the 9-piece Turkuaz. Vocalist Mama T was in the Halloween spirit a couple of days early with a shiny gold outfit and painted face. Her singing was soulful, but the lyrics were very fun and happy. Great tuba work by Jon Hansen allowed them to keep their groove remarkably smooth, and this helped them to totally pack the dancefloor area by the end of their set.
At this point, the anticipation in the air was palpable. The crowd had gotten to dance quite a lot already, and people were ready to lose control of their bodies completely. As Turkuaz took the stage, with all 9 members each dressed in their own (different) solid color outfit, the atmosphere was electric. The band quickly launched into the first track off their latest LP, Digitonium, titled “Introduction”. This album saw them venture further into digital effects and wall-of-sound style production than their previous work, and that aspect was reproduced immaculately in the live setting. “Introduction” was stretched out a bit by a wind synthesizer solo from tenor saxophonist Greg Sanderson. Most of the crowd had never seen this instrument before and busting it out on the first song was a great indicator of how weird the rest of the set would become. Another Digitonium track, “Percy Thrills, the Moondog” came next and helped to really get the crowd moving again.
The next segment saw some older material dusted off, with a resounding version of the title track of their previous album, Future 86. In the chorus of this song, frontman/guitarist Dave Brandwein states bluntly that “the future is coming now,” which is a statement that Turkuaz’s music certainly lends credence to. Their inimitable brand of funk is indeed far ahead of its time. Vocalists Sammi Garett and Shira Elias really took over as the band launched next into another Future 86 track, “Snap Your Fingers”.
At this point nearly every member of the crowd was dancing with reckless abandon, as the power funk party came into full swing. The band masterfully dialed in a cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Babies Making Babies”, which featured baritone saxophonist Josh Schwartz soulfully screaming out the end vocal section, which was positively shocking to all in attendance. There were points during this where his voice sounded as if he had never put down his saxophone. The cover segued into “Lookin’ Tough, Feelin’ Good,” off their 2011 album, Zebert. This track is quite possibly their weirdest song, featuring a call and response style chorus of “Get out the womb! Get out the womb! Now cut the cord! Now cut the cord!” Guitarists Brandwein and Craig Brodhead used this weird energy to set the stage for an epic jazz style guitar battle. After a few minutes, drummer Michelangelo Carubba entered the spotlight as he began to interplay with the guitarists. His drumming was on display at its most powerful here as the three musicians worked through a complex series of synchronized pauses as seamlessly as if they were one person. They proved themselves unafraid to lay out the full extent of their Berklee education onstage, and the audience reacted with lots of enthusiasm.
After a short pause, the band played a great rendition of Digitonium track “The Generator”. This song has some of the most impressive harmony vocals of any Turkuaz track, and showcased the full glut of vocal talent available onstage. The lyrical content of this song was particularly appropriate for the middle of their set, instructing the audience to start up the generator and keep chuggin’ along, even though it was getting late. Next up was a cover of Hot Chocolate’s 1978 hit “Every1’s a Winner”. This feel good tune continued the excellent vocal work from the dynamic duo of Garett and Elias, eventually giving way to an excellent, grooving jam lead by bassist Taylor Shell.
Dave Brandwein took the spotlight back over as the band moved into “Coast to Coast” from their 2011 self-titled album. This was perhaps the most infectiously groovy tune of the evening, with Brandwein’s distorted, spoken-word style vocals telling an autobiographical story of starting a band and “moving down the road” on tour. This track is one of the most characteristic of their unique style in their entire catalog.
The next track was an unreleased original, “Gogo Mr. Dodo”. This tune was fairly horn-focused, featured a nice dual saxophone part, and definitely offered trumpet and keyboard player Chris Brouwers a chance to shine as well. The band returned to Digitonium next by playing “Digital Love”, an 80s disco-funk style track that featured heavy synthesizer use from Brouwers and Brodhead. The talk-box vocals were a really neat effect that helped this track act as a time machine to an 80s nightclub. To close the set, they chose to play “Chatte Lunatique”, another track off Zebert. This song was one of the most fun of the night, with Brandwein and Brodhead playing a super danceable dual-guitar funk riff throughout. By the end, the whole room was singing along about the “crazy cat.”
The band took the stage once more, and Brandwein and Shell both smiled big and began a beautiful rendition of the Al Green song “Take Me to the River”, as per my request to Brandwein before the show. This classic was, of course, redefined when the Talking Heads covered it in a funk/soul/pop style on their 1978 album, More Songs About Buildings and Food. Turkuaz’s version draws the most heavily from that cover, and what we heard was unquestionably the most authentic Talking Heads cover. Brandwein, Garett and Elias absolutely nailed the vocal parts, and the atmosphere was positively jubilant for those of us who stuck it out until the end. All 9 band members went out of their way to recreate the dizzying, percussive effects seen onstage in the Stop Making Sense Talking Heads live film. It is always wonderful to see artists pay tribute some of their favorite influences, and this evening we were lucky enough to see takes on Turkuaz’s two biggest influences, Sly and the Family Stone and the Talking Heads.
Following the conclusion of the encore, I got to stick around and meet the majority of the band. They were all extremely gracious and excited to talk to the fans. It was great to see that this level of interactivity was not just an onstage persona, but that they are all actually that nice of human beings. Seeing them take my song request made my entire day, and I will always remember this as the night that Turkuaz took me from a big fan to devotee status. If you have yet to see them, all I can say is that you should change that. This unstoppable freight train of a band will certainly be in a city near you sometime in the not-too-distant future. This time, you have been warned not to let anything get in the way of seeing one of the highest energy live performances out there.
Words by Coleman Schwartz, check out the full gallery of photos below, courtesy of Scott Shrader:
