Show Review

The shuffle, the hustle, the bump, the mashed potato, however you dance – whatever you do, I defy you to go to an Addison Groove Project show and not “shake your thang.” With intoxicating rhythms and danceable groove, Addison Groove is one of the funkiest bands around. If a Tribe Called Quest had been a bunch of white kids from Boston who grew up listening to The Talking Heads and P-Funk, they would have grown up to become Addison Groove Project.

Before they took the stage, the crowd was treated to an eye opening set by Matisyahu the Hasidic Reggae Superstar - who showed why it pays to always catch the opening act. Matisyahu, whose combination includes Reggae, Funk, Dancehall, Beatbox, with a dash of Yiddish thrown in, produces a musical styling that is entirely unique. You haven’t seen it all until you’ve seen a 6’4” man prowl around the stage in full Hassidic garb, MC’ing and beatboxing before breaking into a full-on Yiddish chant.

Addison Groove Project launched into their own powerful set with a strong one-two punch that got the place up and moving from the first note. With the Funk Box’s spring-loaded floor in full effect, the place was literally bouncing the whole night.

The Boston bred band took time mid-way through to give props to their hometown heroes, The Red Sox, who the day before had just defeated the “Evil Empire” or as guitarist Brendan McGuinn put it, “They destroyed the Death Star.” With November 2nd fast approaching, they didn’t forget about another Hometown boy from Massachusetts who was at the time involved in a battle with another some may call an “Evil Empire.” Introducing a new song by reminding everyone what happened in Florida four years ago, the band rocked out the politically charged number “Waiting for the Polls to Close,” led by Rob Marscher’s strong organ lines.

The Pink Floyd classic “Have a Cigar,” complete with horn solo freak-out by Dave Adams and Ben Groppe followed suit, but this version left you thinking, “Good god, who knew that Pink Floyd could be so funky?” But the highlight of the show was the set-closing combo of “Neo-Geo” and “Juniper.” The exploratory romp through the latter was particularly tasty, closing out the set with a fifteen-minute funk explosion.

Returning to the stage for a quick two-song encore, Addison Groove Project laid down one final funky groove, leaving me with one final question, “Could the illegitimate child of David Byrne and Q-Tip have done it any better?” As Brendan McGuinn squeezed out another stinging guitar lead, punctuated by a pair of bouncing horn lines, I quickly answered “No,” before dancing myself out into the crisp Baltimore night.