Every time the legendary funk outfit Lettuce makes their way down south to the lone star state, the entirety of Texas is blanketed in monumentally funky vibrations of excitement and anticipation. While the city is dubbed the live music capital of the world, we are not as showered with Lettuce shows as say, Colorado, Los Angeles, or the Northeastern coast of the states.
We usually only receive one visit a year from the band and if we are lucky, two. When we find out the sextet, who has been creating precision-pressed, psychedelic waves of funk for over twenty-five years is coming to Texas three nights over New Year’s, we funkin’ celebrate.
Although the band has seen the absence of Eric Krasno and Neal Evans in recent years, the band is just as powerful and continues to prove their talent and funk-jam ability through every show, new release, and album they conjure up. When the New Year’s Eve date was announced in none other than Austin, Texas, I anxiously began counting down the days until the Lett crew came to Texas to ‘Vibe Up’ with its southern fans and bless the New Year with style and grace for final shows on 2018.
Watching members of Lettuce hype up Bobby Sparks on social media was all it took for me to make it early to the show to catch the co-signed player in action. The band was supported by the Bobby Sparks Band, who relentlessly showcased their roots in funk, jazz and a surprising bit of heavy metal banter at the end of their hour-long set.
Sparks is a true aficionado of his musical craft. With a jazzman and musician as a father and a choir and church singer as a mother, Bobby learned to play the organ at the age of three and has studied music ever since. Let us just say that his set stood testament to his musical dexterity, his zest for the magical force that is music, and the sit-in’s from various Lett members got the crowd extra amped for the rest of the evening.
Lettuce has been hinting at their forthcoming fifth full-length LP for months now, but until it is released, we must pay extra close attention to the band’s live sets to get a taste of what the newest material will unleash. The show took place at Emo’s, a long-prized Austin venue that relocated to the east side of town in 2011. The large warehouse style setting began filling up early, thick with anticipation of the two Lettuce sets to come.
Before we knew it, out walked onto the stage Eric “Benny” Bloom (trumpet, percussion) followed by the rest of the Lett force, as the attention of the concert attendees shifted focus from friendly conversations with each other to the reason for the season, the dudes of the night, the funky squadron of green-leafed beloveds–Lettuce.
“The Force” kicked off set one with a palpable presence, as energetic waves of love and funky forces united the crowd, the band, the crewmembers, and Emo’s employees, all together as one. A sultry jam entered the crevices of an unreleased tune titled “Khru”, which is quite aptly named to represent the entire Lettuce KHRU (crew) and fans alike, but also strikes me as a faint trickle into the realms of Thai funk extraordinaires, the Texas trio Khruangbin. With Benny Bloom picking up and putting down every imaginable percussion apparatus, as Ryan Zoidis beautifully complemented on saxophone, it began to register in my head why the Shady Horns are by far my favorite horn duo in the scene.
“The Force”
[Video: mp3reed]
Next up was another song off the highly anticipated album, “Gang Ten”. This portal hopping psychedelic tune showcases Mixolydian magic from the one and the only Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff (guitar), lysergic beats from everybody’s favorite drummer, Adam Deitch, and clavinet creations booming from Nigel Hall (keys, vocals), reminiscent of Herbie Hancock. “Blaze” did just that with a more than extraordinary saxophone solo taking the crowd deep into the Zoid void that reminded me of the high-reaching saxxy sounds produced by New York’s Moon Hooch.
The classic thunderclap “Lettsanity” shook us into the heartwarming and nostalgic Tears for Fears cover “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” that Lett has made all their own over the years, before closing out an epic set one.
The crowd eagerly awaited the arrival of set two, and the big countdown to say ‘au revoir’ to 2018 and ‘howdy ho’ to 2019. “Trillogy” an intergalactic hip-hop-laced tune from 2015’s Crush album opened the second set, leading into the big celebration at the clock’s stroke of midnight. The symbolic ball drop into 2019 cracked open crowd pleaser “Sounds Like A Party” to get everyone back into peak dancing mood and remind us why we were all there.
“Moksha”, another song set to be on the forthcoming LP, brought out world-renowned Sitar player Indrajit Banerjee, truly bringing a progressive funk rock vibe to set Emo’s ablaze. A classic from the band’s 2008 album Rage “Sam Huff’s Flying Raging Machine” was spiced with familiar licks from Dusty Springfield’s classic “Song of a Preacher Man,” was served up next, as Ryan Zoidis once again led us knees deep into the “Zoid-void” of saxophone heaven.
Next up was a first for me personally, “Shmink Dabby Kane,” which I can only describe as a cowboy disco mash-up with obviously the funkiest of funky ass bass lines from none other than Jesus Coomes (bass). Sliding into pleasurable teases of “We Got The Funk” into an extended version of “Phyllis”, played at normal speed, sped up and then back down again, had the crowd quite literally movin’ on up. An ode to Prince, “Royal Highness” took us directly to space as Nigel Hall worked his magic on the FOUR separate keyboards he mans, while also providing his vocals licks and radiating presence we have all come to love. The night ended with “TRAP”, a swag-packed tune also soon to be released that has been perfected, deconstructed and reborn since its inception, and is quickly becoming a new personal favorite.
“Royal Highness”
[Video: mp3reed]
Just like that, the last show of the year was capped, wrapped and will never be forgotten. Well, after some after show hangs with the Austin gang and Lettuce KHRU that will definitely ring true as a highlight of the year.