Aloe Blacc Concert Review

Aloe Blacc started off his magical concert on Monday night by reminding us of some of the greats of soul music: Green, Gaye, Wonder, Brown, clearly hoping that one day another name will be among that illustrious list-Blacc. If the show was any indication, it won't be too long before his hopes become a reality.

Throughout the hour and a half long concert that I went to with my girlfriend and a couple of buddies, Blacc seemed to be systematically working through a list of things which a great soul artist needs to have: a great voice, charisma, funky dance moves, glances that make girls swoon, a sense of joie de vivre. Playing largely hits from his most recent album Good Things, Blacc did all that and more. Although of course rehearsed a million times, Blacc gave off the impression that the crowd was witnessing something that had never been seen before, and the Madrileño crowd (not an easy one by a long shot) was loving it. Blacc was pitch perfect, sounding just at home on his slower tracks ("If I") as with his more upbeat ones ("Good Things"). He made sure that we all had a damn good time, at one point getting the crowd to split into two while urging us to start a "SoulTrain" dance line down the middle-turning random fellow concert goers into boogie partners. It was a great moment, but one soon eclipsed by him and his band playing "I Need A Dollar," a song that I have heard/taught/jammed to more than probably any other song. Real special moment for myself (thought I wish the battery on my phone would have realized what was going on and not have kooked out on me).

It was a night that started off with a surprise-walking in to the theater I saw none other than Exile warming up the crowd with the funkiest of DJ sets, playing nothing but old school funk and soul. Exile and Blacc had once formed a hiphop group (more on that to come), and Exile spent most of the concert recording everything from the side of the stage with a huge grin on his face. Luckily I got to meet him post-concert, pretty much telling him that he was the man. From the surprise warm up act to the vibrant main show, it was a helluva night for the crowd, for Madrid's music scene, and for soul. Luckily, Blacc will continue to grow as an artist and we can only assume will continue to knock on the door of the upper echelon of Soul.

The Twelves Concert Review

One of the greatest barometers in life is the Expected Joy&Happiness function whereby you rate the actual joy you got from seeing/witnessing/experiencing/watching something (with a simple 1-10 rating) and divide that by the expected joy that you thought you were going to get from seeing/witnessing/experiencing/watching something (continue the simple 1-10 rating). For example, my expected joy from watching an episode of How To Make It In America is about a 6 which, divided by the relative 6 joy I get from actually seeing it, means that How To Make It In America is batting a very solid 1.000. This rating takes into consideration that some of life's greatest joys come from being completely blown outta the water by something, while not discounting the feeling when an artist amazes you despite high expectations (Rodrigo y Gabriela were at a 9 for exceptions and a 10 for delivery).

Back to the review. I went to see The Twelves, an up and coming electro duo from Rio, who have been making some big waves on the blogocean recently and I was expecting something new, some edgy, something epic. My good buddy and trusted electroaficienado Brem had nothing but the best things to say about them and my expectations were soaring (a little naively perhaps) at an 8. What I got was about a 4, giving a pretty mediocre .500. Perhaps an off-night hit them at an unfortunate time for myself, but The Twelves were neither very dynamic nor very original. Songs rose and fell with lackluster transitions and none of the tropical spark that I was expecting. The Madrid crowd itself, which had put a great showing for itself the week before at Afrojack, seemed to be having a better time at the secondary DJ upstairs. With nary a raised head to check out the crowd, I was looking for a big slap-on-the-back type of night; unfortunately all I got was a weak handshake. 

EJH Rating=.500 (mediocre)

Check out their BBC Essential Mix here

ConcertandaHalf #1-The Tallest Man On Earth (Madrid, Spain)

On a chilly Madridleno night, the Tallest Man on Earth proved that he is more than ready to shed the knockoff Dylan monikers, that he is an incredible artist in his own right whose young catalog and stage presence far exceed most veteran artists. His small stage, spartanly decorated by only a rack of specially tuned guitars, amps, a piano, and a few chairs, seemed to fit a little too tightly for the TMOE, who appeared determined to sit in every flat space and pace every open square foot of stage. The gorgeous old theater he played in, built straight up and decked in gold trim and red velvet, seemed to be both barely big enough for his at-times booming voice yet not small enough for his most intimate jams. What a show. 

After a few piano ballads by a women with a gorgeous understated voice and a great afro named Idiot Wind (taken from a Dylan song-strangely catchy name though), the TMOE was ready to begin (Idiot Wind later came out to sing a duet on one mic with the TMOE, with the Swede looking like he wanted to steal a kiss the entire time). Playing to a sold-out crowd, the TMOE immediately made everyone feel very appreciated. He started off by saying that this was his first time in Madrid in 27 years, that the last time he had been in the great city was as a baby in his mother's womb. He promised us a great show to show respect, and he definitely did. Playing a mix of songs from the Wild Hunt, Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird EP, and Shallow Grave, and seemingly changing guitars which each song, the TMOE aced both his slower ("Love is All") and more upbeat jams ("The Gardner"). What really impressed me most was his voice in person. At risk of at times sounding nasally on record, live his voice often roared with confidence, and he threw in enough ad libs during his songs that even his most often repeated songs on my itunes sounded fresh and vigorous. As a solo artist as well, who did have to change guitars which led to some down time between songs, I thought that the silence during the breaks might become stiflingly awkward. He made sure this didn't happen, telling some dry yet funny jokes and making sure to keep the audience involved at every stop. 

After teaching the song during my classes to rural Spanish students and private lessons, I was most excited to hear "King of Spain." He set the song up with a funny apology to anyone in the audience who was offended, and most importantly, to the actual King of Spain. Ripping into the fast paced strums of the jam, he didn't hold anything back as he went through the images of Spain, and received a big cheer with his "I'm not even from Madrid" shoutout. Afterwards, he humbly told the crowd that he never imagined he would have sung the song in Spain, that he always thought he was going to be stuck in Sweden singing it. Luckily for us, the diminutive Swede with a great voice and even better guitar skills has become international, while still maintaining a humbleness that he is still surprised to be playing in front of audiences like the one in Madrid. With shows as great as the one on Wednesday night, the crowds and venues will only get bigger and bigger.