On a busy Saturday night in New Orleans with a lot of options for its music-fiending inhabitants, people of all ages, shapes, and sizes came out to celebrate the return of Billy Iuso & Friends to the legendary Tipitina’s stage. Made up of Eddie Christmas (drums), Charlie Dennard (keys), Brad Walker (sax), and Dave Pomerleau (bass), Iuso’s band on this night represents an amalgamation of respected local talents with diverse musical backgrounds who have played with the beloved guitarist in various projects over the years. Iuso has a tight-knit community of loyal fans, affectionately called BIRNouts, after his hometown collective Billy Iuso and Restless Natives. Together, BIRNouts and their leader share a unique connection to New Orleans and its music culture, as well as celebrating decades of the deepest influences of funk, blues, soul, reggae, and rock titans to pass through the city.
As the driving force and fearless leader on Saturday night, Iuso led his band and crowd through a night of musical peaks and valleys. The band gelled from the onset, lifting off with the Funkadelic classic “Red Hot Mama” into “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley” into the title track from Iuso’s latest release, Overstanding. All the way through their single, multi-hour set, the band fired on all cylinders as they weaved through new Iuso material and staple covers, hard-hitting when they needed to be and frequently breaking down into gritty funk, rolling grooves, southern rock, and space to create richly layered tapestries of sound.
“The band keeps getting bigger!” proclaimed Billy at one point, as he welcomed hometown rocker Mike Doussan, who performed the opening set, to sit in for a blistering “Spanish Moon”. Iuso also brought trumpet and sax players Mike Korbin and David Masucci on for the second half of the set. A brief “Terrapin Station” tease led into a funky and loose version of The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You”, held down in the pocket by Iuso and Eddie Christmas to provide a true highlight. Echoing guitar by Iuso, smooth keys from Dennard, and gorgeous and tasteful soloing from Walker resonated through the whole room, and bright and ringing anthems led by Iuso and Pomerleau on vocals swelled both band and crowd to soaring heights as each player on stage delivered beautiful crescendos to keep Tipitina’s packed with energy from start to finish.
Simply put, Billy brings it, and we can’t wait to catch him with his band Restless Natives and with the Crawfish Fest All-Stars with George Porter, Jr., Terence Higgins, Dave Malone, and very special guest Anders Osborne at the inaugural NOLA Crawfish Festival at NOLA Brewery during the days between Jazz Fest, on April 25th-27th!