George Porter Jr., The London Souls and The Shady Horns Help Soulive Close Out Bowlive IV @ Brooklyn Bowl

Soulive @ Brooklyn Bowl – March 16th

Words: Scott Bernstein
Photos: Andrew Blackstein

Soulive closed out their fourth annual Bowlive residency at NYC’s Brooklyn Bowl last night with what was the band’s 40th show at the Williamsburg venue. The trio welcomed a number of guests for the Bowlive finale, all of which have been regulars over the past week, and each guest received a t-shirt commemorating the event with the “Bowlive” logo on the front and “40” on the back.

[All Photos by Andrew Blackstein]

Considering the impressive list of guests, both expected and unexpected, who performed with Soulive over the course of the eight-show run, there were high hopes for a surprise artist or two to share the stage with the trio besides announced guests The Shady Horns and funk legend George Porter Jr. Though the surprises were limited to saxophonist Cochemea Gastelum and The London Souls, the true highlight of the night was the otherworldly interplay displayed by Neal and Alan Evans and Eric Krasno as they stretched everything out in the first set and expertly backed Porter during the rest of the show.

Back in 2010, which was also the year Bowlive started, Soulive released an album of Beatles covers cleverly titled Rubber Soulive. All three prior Bowlive runs were heavy on Beatles material and that trend continued in 2013. In fact last Wednesday’s second show of the residency was the only performance of the eight that didn’t feature at least one Beatles cover. On Saturday Come Together got the call and contained a psychedelic and jazz-tinged solo by Krasno that added a whole new element to the song. Soulive’s take on Lenny by Stevie Ray Vaughan showed off a different side of Krasno’s skills as he laced each soul-laden lick with the emotion that was written all over his face. Though the best part of the first set wasn’t a cover of a song by a legendary artist or a Soulive original – it was when the members of The London Souls emerged to lead the trio and the horns through their own Steady Are You Ready. The Souls, a trio whose new album was produced by Kraz, got the crowd moving and banging their heads thanks to Steady’s hard rock feel.

Kraz and The Evans seemed to focus on styles that weren’t funk in the first set as with Porter aboard, there was no doubt the second set would have plenty of funk. The bassist emerged fairly quickly after the start of the closing stanza and he stayed on stage throughout the  final frame. Among the many Meters classics GPJ led were People Say and Hey Pocky A-Way from The Meters’ 1974 gem Rejuvenation. The Handclapping Song, off 1970’s Struttin’, saw many in the audience clap along. Gastelum lent a hand on People Say, giving the ensemble a four-man horn section. When Porter performed with Soulive last year at Bowlive III, there was plenty of onstage hand signals and discussion but this year GPJ and Soulive seemed more prepared and only exchanged knowing glances as they worked their way through an array of the bassist’s best songs. And these best songs weren’t only limited to Meters’ tunes, Porter’s underrated solo selection Out In The Country was the second set’s Lenny inasmuch as it was a slower number that let the band’s soul glow. There was also the surprising selection of Take A Chance from George’s time with Porter Baptiste Stoltz aka PBS. For the second set finale, Porter, Soulive and the horns lit into a relentlessly funky take on Donny Hathaway’s Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything).

Brooklyn Bowl owner Pete Shapiro came onstage with the band as they returned for the encore and thanked them for the wonderful two weeks of shows. He also mentioned it was the band’s 40th total performance at the Bowl. In celebration, the venue had t-shirts made up for everyone in the room. Shapiro himself gave out many of the shirts as the Brooklyn Bowl staff made sure each and every attendee got a shirt which had a Bowlive logo on the front and “40” on the back. With that Porter, Soulive and the horns laid down the funkiest number on a night full of ’em – the GPJ solo favorite He Bite Me (The Dragon). As the clock passed 1:30AM, the band still had one left in them and treated the crowd to a version of The Meters’ Ain’t No Use that just wouldn’t end. No one of that stage was ready for Bowlive IV to be over and kept on extending the finale’s finale. After the music finally ended, Kraz thanked the staff, his crew and his band mates for another memorable Bowlive run. The countdown has already begun for Bowlive V though it’ll be awful hard for Soulive to top this year’s run.

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One Response

  1. great recap scotty! i’ve been loving your bowlive and allman setlists and recaps daily these weeks. great weeks to be in nyc.

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