red lights

Concert Livewire
concert reviews basement tapescd reviews interviewsfeaturesPollstar news



LSD will make a concert 'junkie' out of anyone

Lake Street Dive/ The Suffers
The Historic Rialto Theatre
Tucson, AZ
February 23, 2016
Lake Street Dive
Lake Street Dive
The Suffers
The Suffers
Lake Street Dive
Lake Street Dive

Review and photos by Mary Andrews

My latest concert 'fix' was fulfilled by Lake Street Dive and The Suffers at the Rialto theatre a few nights ago. This was one of the best shows that Tucson has seen in a long time! It was was only the second stop of a new tour promoting Lake Street Dive's new album, Side Pony. This is their first album release on Nonesuch Records. This show consisted of the entire album as a whole body of work along with some older favorites.

Lake Street Dive has remained under the radar for far too long. Linda Ronstadt was asked at a town hall meeting a little over a year ago "What new artists are out there that you like?" Ms. Ronstadt responded, "I like this group called Lake Street Dive. I think they were just here (in Tucson). This girl looks a lot like Scarlett Johansson and sings like Amy Winehouse. And boy, she can wear the red lipstick. She looks good. She's backed by a three-piece jazz band - just trumpet, bass and drums. They swing really well and she's a great singer this girl. Look her up on You-Tube. She's really good." The opportunity finally arrived to take Linda up on her recommendation.

The show started with an unknown group (in the Tucson area) called The Suffers. The band consisted of a nine piece ensemble featuring lead singer, Kam Franklin with Pat Kelly on keyboards, Adam Castaneda on bass, Michael Razo on trombone, Kevin Bernier guitar, Jon Durbin on trumpet, Cory Wilson on sax, Nick Zamora drums, and Jose "Chapy" Luna on percussion.

The band immediately perked up the ears of the packed house within the first few bars of the first song. This seemed primarily due to the voice and stage presence of Kam Franklin. Her larger than life Afro hair, personality and vocal prowess commanded everyone's attention. Picture the soulful vocal intensity of Brittany Howard with a resemblance to Food Network's Sunny Anderson. Her vocals are controlled, sensual, and powerful at just the right moments.

The crisp, bright, in sync sound of the brass and the spot on percussion seemed to be unrivaled in music today. The band is touted as being an R&B revival band, but they modernize their sound by adding Latin, Southern hip hop, and rock. They are on the road to support their new cd release, The Suffers, and it is a good one! Kam was quick to tell the audience that they still have day jobs. They work doing everything from banking to engineering. This performance was surely evidence that they will be giving up those jobs very soon!

Lake Street Dive (LSD) took the stage after a short intermission to deliver what their fans were anxiously anticipating, another tour de force performance in Tucson. It was easy to see why LSD has won the accolades and hearts of fans across the country over the last few years.

Unlike the show openers, LSD consists of only four members. However the sound was still just as powerful. They are all New England Conservatory-trained musicians. Rachael Price leads the group with her seemingly effortless, yet stunning vocals. Upright acoustic bassist, Bridget Kearney, produced the rich bass present throughout the show. She wrote a lot of the songs on the new album. Mike Calabrese on drums also writes some of the songs. Mike Olson played both guitar and a great soulful trumpet during the set. Actually, all of the band members have had a hand at writing the songs on the new album. Everyone in the LSD supplied outstanding background vocals in addition to stellar musicianship.

The set started with a drum driven "Hell Yeah" and a huge roaring chorus from the crowd that was testimony that this was going to be stand up dance party. Price's boss voice resonated with the new song "I Don't Care About You." Olson's robust guitar reverberated throughout this one. High energy does not begin to describe Price's animation throughout the show. It is that energy that kept the all-age audience in high gear. Throwing out a few scrungies to the fans also helped!

The highlight of the show was a magnificent drum solo on "Don't Make Me." Or maybe it was when Bridget Kearney jumped on the drum stand with her stand up bass and battled with drummer, Mike Calabrese, toward the end of the set. Rachael Price's vocals worked best with the rock, jazz, R & B, and blues tunes or everything she sang.

Got to say Linda Ronstadt nailed it! As for the Suffers, they will be appearing at a lot of festivals this summer, including New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Selist:
1. Hell Yeah
2. I Don't Care About You
3. You Go Down Smooth
4. Side Pony
5. Close to Me
6. Clear a Space
7. Better Than
8. Stop Your Crying
9. Saving All My Sinning
10. Godawful Things
11. How Good It Feels
12. Don't Make Me Hold Your Hand
13. Elijah
14. Mistakes
15. Walking on Broken Glass (Annie Lennox cover)
16. Bad Self Portraits
17. Seventeen
18. So Long
19. Spectacular Failure
20. Call Off Your Dogs

Encore:
21. What I'm Doing Here
Lake Street Dive
Lake Street Dive
The Suffers
The Suffers
Lake Street Dive
Lake Street Dive
Lake Street Dive
Lake Street Dive
The Suffers
The Suffers
Lake Street Dive
Lake Street Dive
The Suffers
The Suffers
Lake Street Dive
Lake Street Dive

Return to Reviews
Return to Livewire

Copyright © ConcertLivewire.com™ All Rights Reserved