Courtesy of Ticketweb.com |
“It's a bit of a humbling experience to cover a Prince song. Because, really, you can't do it like Prince.” -Gavin Guss
Some
of the best bands in the Emerald City paid tribute to the Purple One
last weekend.
I attended the 10th Annual Double Album Christmas Benefit on December 15 at Seattle's Tractor Tavern. This year's album was Sign o' the Times by Prince, where the entire album was played live and in sequence by local bands. All the proceeds from the concert benefited MusiCares, a foundation that gives assistance to musicians in times of need, according to the organization's Web site.
I attended the 10th Annual Double Album Christmas Benefit on December 15 at Seattle's Tractor Tavern. This year's album was Sign o' the Times by Prince, where the entire album was played live and in sequence by local bands. All the proceeds from the concert benefited MusiCares, a foundation that gives assistance to musicians in times of need, according to the organization's Web site.
I
am a working stiff, however, and couldn't get the day off to prepare
myself to witness this epic undertaking. So, I missed the opening of
the concert with Sign o' the Times and Play in the Sunshine (thank
you, King County Metro and, for the record, the new D-Line bus to
Ballard sucks). However, I did arrive just in time for Housequake, so that's where the review begins (I know, I'm sorry). I've divided this review into two parts, just like the CD, to make it more palatable for my readers:
“Housequake” by Judd Wasserman
Judd Wasserman, photo by Elke Hautala |
Of course, the sped-up “Camille” vocals were missing, but, for
anyone who's seen Prince in concert, where Prince sings this in his
natural voice, it doesn't lessen the impact of this jam.
The
only thing missing was the brass, which
is all over this song on the album, but, this group more
than made up for it with some slammin' electric guitar solos. What
they lacked in instrumentation, they more than made up for with funk.
I will concede that it would not have satisfied some Prince purists,
but, I thought they did well with the band they had. The drummer was
in the pocket and they rode that groove all the way to the very end
of the song with high energy. The vocalist was sounded great, but, I
felt like he could have been more on point with the lyrics.
“The
Ballad of Dorothy Parker”
In
my humble opinion, it would have been impossible to get the
super-stripped down sound of the album version live. The band did not
try to do that and I think it worked to their advantage. This song,
again, was heavy on the guitar, bass and drums, like most of the
songs of the night were, but, it sounded great. There was another
searing guitar solo in the middle of the song and I thought the
vocalist was good, too. Really held his own in what I think is a
difficult song to sing.
Shawn Smith. photo by Elke Hautala |
“It”
by Shawn Smith
I
have to admit that I have never been a fan of this song. But, I did
enjoy this version of it. His blues/rock version of the song is not far off the mark of Prince's original, and hearing it live added
something that made it more enjoyable. Michelle Speir,
an avid Prince fan like myself, described his look and music as “ZZ
Top meets Prince,”and I would agree. Only much cooler.
“Starfish
and Coffee” by the Scott Summers Quartet
This
was pretty true to the original, with the exception that it was sung
as a duet with a man and woman. It sounded very good and it looked
like the band was having a lot of fun doing it.
Julia Massey, photo by Elke Hautala |
“Slow
Love” by The Glass Notes
The
band stayed pretty true to the original song, but, there were some
parts, in my opinion, that sounded a little more bluesy. The guitar
solos in the middle were kicking (just for the record, I may say that
several more times, since I didn't hear one bad guitar solo all
night). The best part in my opinion was the raw emotion in the lead
singer's vocals and you could see that everyone in the band was
really feeling the song.
Prince Fan David Schwartz, photo by Elke Hautala |
Keyboardist
Julia Massey, who fronts her own band Julia Massey and the 5 Finger
Discount, sat in with The Glass Notes on this song. She was asked to
play with the band just days before the event and practiced with the
band twice before performing Saturday night. She said when she was
first recruited she wasn't familiar with the song or the album, but,
she had a great time playing on stage.
“I
think I am like most kids who grew up in the 80s, I know the hits
backwards and forwards,” Massey said. “I'm happy I have a whole
lifetime to unpack...everything he's produced. He's so prolific..”
“Hot
Thing” by Lucky Girl
This
band took the stripped-down funk jam and turned into a rollicking
“punk-rock groove, with rock and roll solos” as lead singer Kathy
Moore described it.
Kathy Moore, photo by Elke Hautala |
If
you are at all familiar with the song, it is almost unrecognizable.
Moore's smoky vocals gave the song an edge. Unlike the album cut, which
has a long instrumental at the end, this song ended when the lyrics
did, save for a few guitar solos in the middle.
As I listened to them play the song, I wondered was there any
significance that this particular song, an homage to a very sexy
woman, was sang by female vocalist.
“Well
you know, to be honest I was powering through it and not thinking
about the lyrics,” Moore said, after her set.
Prince fans Michelle Speir and Ken Iliffe, photo by Elke Hautala |
“Forever
in My Life” by Shawn Smith
This
is another song on the album that I have never been particularly fond
of. Not because there is anything wrong with it, but, I guess it just
has not touched me in a special place yet...whatever that means. With
this song, just like with “It,” he had me groovin'. I also felt
he gave this song a blues/rock feel and the vocals were powerful and
he more than did this Prince cut justice.
-K
For more information on MusiCares visit www.grammy.org/musicares. Check out Elke Hautala's video of the event here:
Love this review, K! It really brought the night back for me, and I'm totally flattered that you mentioned me and included a pic of us! Thanks!! Super fun night.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't there (am a Prince and Shel fan in D.C.) but your review made me feel like I was--loved it! You made a great point about how some of the best covers are done by bands who know they can't match the perfection of the original so they take it in a different direction. As you noted, this can be a real boon if you happen not to love the original...
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