James Brown
with Ash Grunwald
» Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - venue, Mon, January 12
What better way to spend the international day of love than with a bona fide, gen-u-ine sex machine? Such was the opinion when 2100 Hobartians took the stellar opportunity of spending the night with the one, the only Mr. James Brown.
Opening proceedings for the evening was the amazing Ash Grunwald. Proving that one person is more than enough to entrance a crowd, Grunwald gave a stellar performance. Punctuating his blues-streaked set with crowd favourites such as ‘Dolphin Song’, the lad managed to channel Howling Wolf himself with his rousing rendition of ‘Smokestack Lightning’, which, in short, had me staring carp-mouthed with incredulity. Never before had I seen an opening act take such command of the crowd, and most certainly I had never before seen a solo performer with such passion and tenacity as I saw tonight. I heartily recommend to one and all, if you get the chance to see Ash Grunwald, do yourself a favour and be first in line for tickets.
The crowd, having been whipped into a shamanistic frenzy by Mr. Grunwald, were primed ready and champing at the collective bit for the headliner; the one, the only, Mr. James Brown.
Backed by a seventeen piece, colour co-ordinated and all together grooving, band, Mr. Brown not only delivered all the groove juice to get you going on such an evening but gave all the shimmy and shaking that was ever required to get one on up and get on down. UUUUUNNNGGHHH!
At over seventy you would think that retirement would be the sole option for any seasoned performer; but not Mr. Brown. From the moment Mr. Brown strode on stage bedecked in a red suit (with tassels, of course) he owned the venue. When Mr. Brown told those in seats to stand, they stood, for when Mr. Brown asks you to do something; you do it.
From the opening chord the crowd were getting their collective freak on. From general admission to the seats, one and all were losing themselves in the primal ballet that is funk. And when it comes to funk, soul brothers and sisters, they don’t come any better.
Musically, the band was flawless, hitting each note with bone-crunching precision and mind-altering alacrity. The set comprised all the hits one would expect, (and frankly one would have been disappointed without hearing) finishing with ‘I Feel Good’ and the orgiastic anthem of the evening ‘Sex Machine’.
Say what you will about Mr. Brown’s private life and off stage persona. The truth of the matter is the man has the power to move a crowd to the point of shaking their asses to shattering point and back again. It is also important to note that, the man has been doing it for fifty odd years now, which is more than just about any living performer can claim. I am sure that if you were there that night you are nodding in agreement right now, and if you weren’t well, you missed out on the performance of a lifetime, and you better pray really hard that you don’t miss such an opportunity again… UUUUNNNGGGHH!
