G Love and Special Sauce

‘I did this song with G Love and Special Sauce, they’re one of my favourite bands so… it was a pleasure to this song with those guys.’- Jack Johnson, 2003, in reference to the song Rodeo Clowns at an intimate gig in Australia prior to the release of his On and On album.

It was this quote I heard in a live recording on Triple J that inspired me to first listen to G Love and Special Sauce and hopefully it will also motivate other people who read this, who haven’t otherwise heard them, to do the same thing. G Love and Special Sauce are an awesome band and on October 15th I got the chance to see them play a show to an enthusiastic Fremantle crowd at the Fly By Night Club in Fremantle.

It had been a sunny, cloudless Sunday on the coast of WA, the perfect lead up to catching G Love and his brand of laid back, Philadelphian hip hop alternative blues, if you want to call it that. Having never been to the Fly By Night club before, I was blown away by the vibe and carefree mood the room projects. The satisfied and humble expressions on two suns hanging either side of the stage, pretty much summing up how one feels viewing a live performance there and how the crowd was feeling during the G Love set.

Melbourne born artist Whitley opened the show with an impressive solo set of self penned acoustic tracks and had the crowd in good spirits. Armed with not only genuinely good songs but also a likeable Aussie sense of humour, I’m sure Whitley is an artist who will be gaining more coverage and popularity in the future. www.myspace.com/whitleymusic - definately worth checking out his music.

There was short interval, which allowed the crowd to swell and get into the right frame of mind to appreciate the smooth sounds they were about to hear, however that may be. The lights dimmed, a cheer went up and G Love and Special Sauce graced the stage. Heads started to nod instantly and the room became a laid back cauldron of good vibes.

The first set was a mixture of songs from their new album ‘Lemonade’ and classic tunes such as ‘Blues Music’, Dreamin’ and ‘She Got Sauce’ with extra cheers coming from the audience whenever G Love broke out into a wailing harmonica riff. The classic tracks were no doubt the highlights of the set, with ‘Blues Music’ slowing things down, then the feel good song Dreamin’ stirring things up again and ‘She Got Sauce’ rounding things up perfectly.

With the thumping double bass lines from Jimmy Jazz and the trademark catch cry coming from the crowd-‘SHE GOT SAUCE’, it was certain that everyone was having a good time! The crowd also got to witness G Love’s knack of using almost anything as a guitar slide, using the microphone in this set and then a little something special for a fan later on in the night.

After a brief intermission and a lot of encouragement coming from the crowd, G Love reappeared by himself, to play some acoustic tracks and even a request yelled out from a fan. Cheekily saying ‘I’m not gona play it now that you’ve said it’, he played it as his final acoustic song before inviting the band back for the last half hour of entertainment.

After a few more songs from his new album and a well deserved applause for each of his fellow band members, he finished the night with an ‘ad libbed’ version of his classic ‘Cold Beverages’. Playing the whole song through to the enjoyment of the crowd, then breaking into his own version of Snoop Dogg’s ‘Gin and Juice’ and finally, after being handed a fans mobile phone, breaking into a slide riff using the phone, putting a smile on everyone’s faces and putting a stamp on a memorable Sunday night gig!

It is this humility and interaction he has with the crowd that makes his live show such an enjoyable one, G Love and Special are definitely a band you don’t really appreciate until you witness them live and they certainly proved this October 15th at the Fly By Night.

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