 |
| 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
 |
| Gavin Guss, photo by Elke Hautala |
“U
Got the Look” by Gavin Guss
This
was, by far the most interesting performance of the night. It was
done as a solo, not as a duet, with an
all-male
band. But, honestly, I don't think Sheena Easton's soulful vocals and
or Prince's androgynous “Camille” vocals would have a place in
this version of the song.
The band took what is easily one of the
funkiest grooves on the album and turned it into a straight rock and
roll song. Now what kind of rock song, I can't tell you. I heard some
parts that sounded like late 60s rock and others that
sounded like Seattle's most famous export: grunge music. He did this
one pose and hit a guitar riff that, I swear to God, reminded me of Chuck Berry circa 1955. Or maybe not. I'm not well-versed enough to
tell you for sure and it's hard enough just trying to describe this
genre-defying song. In roughly four to five minutes this song took
you so many places that, as a listener, you were just trying to keep
up. I thought it was a great tribute to a genre-defying artist like
Prince.
“It's
a bit of a humbling experience to cover a Prince song,” Guss said
before his set. “Because, really, you can't do it like Prince.”
So, I guess he just decided to make the song his own. I appreciate the effort and I think Prince would, too.
So, I guess he just decided to make the song his own. I appreciate the effort and I think Prince would, too.
“If
I Was Your Girlfriend” by Strong Suit
This,
like all the other songs of the evening, was heavy on the electric
guitars, but, I loved it. A lot of those keyboard grooves were
doubled the guitar and I thought it sounded great. There was some
great ad-libs by the lead singer and at the end and a really nice
drum solo. There was a extended jam at the end where they really got
the crowd involved.
The
band got together and only had “one and a half” rehearsals before
performing that night, said Keith, the band's bassist after his set.
And the band actually chose that
song to perform.
“We
all love that song, that whole album,” he said. “Our singer chose
that song, (it was) the first one, off the top of his head.
 |
| Eldridge Gravy, photo by Elke Hautala |
“Strange
Relationship” by Eldrige Gravy
This
performance was definitely funky! The fact that it was done as a duet
gave the already deep song an even deeper meaning. (Side note: I
would love to hear Prince do this as a duet now). The lead singers
were great, very soulful (probably the most soulful act all night). I
love this song and I was definitely digging their version of it.
“I
Could Never Take the Place of Your Man” by To The Glorious Lonely
Michelle
Speir, a Prince fan in the audience described their performance as
the “goth metal version” of the song. Maybe. It definitely didn't
have the light pop feel of the original, it was much heavier, punk I
would say, and I felt like they powered right through it. I'm not
really sure how to describe their version of the song, and I thought
Speir's description was interesting, so I'm going to stick with that.
 |
| Kim, of Lazy Susan, photo by Elke Hautala |
“The
Cross” by Lazy Susan
This
song was done by a female vocalist and, again, did not stray wildly
from the original. There was plenty of kick drum in those first
verses and her subtle emotion in her voice lent itself greatly to the
song's very quiet opening. But, once the guitars and drums kicked in
on the second part of the song, it was on.
Her
voice came across as being filled with rage at the conditions she is
describing in the song, whereas, I always felt that Prince's vocals
on the album were filled a strong sense of urgency (or maybe it was
sublimated rage I wasn't capable of understanding). At this point the
band was playing with urgency and abandon. I loved it. The song's
length was not as compact and to the point as the original, as there
were several guitar solos throughout the song. There was no harmonies
at the end, but, a nice, clean rock and roll finish with lots of
guitar riffs and drums.
“It's
Gonna Be a Beautiful Night” by Aaron Daniel
 |
| Aaron Daniel, photo by Elke Hautala |
This
performance was super ambitious. This guy came out, alone, with a
guitar and a machine where he had pre-recorded background vocals, a drum
beat and, I don't know if he had an actual vocoder, but, he there was
something that altered his voice that made it sound like he had one.
I'm standing in the audience thinking “where's the band?” but,
decided to give it a chance.
When
you hear this song on the album it's a JAM. Lots of horns, banging
drums, keyboards, layered vocals. It would have been hard to
duplicate that, because Tractor Tavern is a very intimate setting. I
like how this guy just came out solo like “I'm about to do this.”
He was an amazing guitar player and also got the crowd involved.
Since there was no backing band for the “confusion” segment at
the end of the song, when he yelled “confusion” he just cued the
crowd to go crazy. It was pretty cool. My one complaint is that it
was hard to hear his vocals over everything that going on.
The
only thing missing was Sheila E.'s very fun and very funky
“Transmississippi Rap” (which I spent weeks trying to learn in
high school). But, if he would have been able to do that on top of
everything else, I would have expected him to walk on water
next...just saying.
 |
| Amsterdam, photo by Elke Hautala |
“Adore”
by Amsterdam
This
is arguably the best song on the album, in my opinion, and I had high
expectations for whatever band decided tackled it.
When
Amsterdam hit the stage, I wasn't disappointed. They had a trumpet
and saxophone player-- first brass instruments I had seen all night -- the drummer had on his 1999 T-Shirt and the female vocalist just
stepped up to the mic and looked like she was ready to throw down.
She
had the chops-- with the falsetto right on point— and she knew all
the lyrics (which I appreciated). However, she was a
bit overpowered by the brass section of the band and toward the end
of the song her voice got a little lost in the music. This, like
Strange Relationship was the most faithful interpretation of the
Prince's original and there was little room for error. I feel that
the band more than rose to the challenge.
It
was fitting finale to a great tribute.
-K
For more information on MusiCares visit www.grammy.org/musicares. Check out Elke Hautala's video of the event here:
Stay beautiful, Kristi
Stay beautiful, Kristi
--
Like us on Facebook: Dyes Got the Answers 2 Ur ?s and Beautiful Nights
