Friday's show demonstrated the band's signature, relentless high-energy funk. For those not familiar with the group's sound, the most apt comparisons would be to bands such as Phish and String Cheese Incident. A few years ago, Soulive was opening for the Dave Matthews Band, a gig that helped them gain the wide recognition they enjoy today. Now, it is their own driving rhythms and distinct sound that draws crowds around the world.
Soulive is made up of Alan Evans on drums, Eric Krasno on guitar and Neal Evans on keys. Regrettably, the group's alto saxophone player Sam Kininger, who has appeared on all of Soulive's albums, was not present at Friday night's performance. I was struck by how much sound and energy the trio alone could generate. Heads were swaying, bodies were moving all over the place and, for the most part, people were really enjoying themselves. Even with a late start and dismaying technical difficulties, the audience (made up of mostly Hampshire students) responded with yells and ebullient applause for their alum and the rest of the band.
Krasnow's performance was remarkable for the way he developed his long guitar solos. You could really feel the music build, from the initial laying down of the groove to the sometimes riotous climaxes the band reached. Evans displayed outstanding versatility, laying down a solid bass line with the Hammond B-3 organ while at the same time soloing on the organ and several other keyboards. One of the highlights of the performance was when Evans played an extended chord solo on the clavinet-think of the Herbie Hancock solo on "Chameleon" and you'll get an idea of what a clavinet sounds like. Though Evans was playing a keyboard, the way his hands were moving made it look as though he was beating on conga drums. I wasn't surprised to learn that he was a drummer before he started playing keyboards. Still, it's always impressive to see someone's hands move the way his did.
I was disappointed, however, that the group performed only one song off their latest release on Blue Note, "Next." The album features a striking blend of rap, hip-hop and funk. Considering that typically jazz albums do not sell very well compared to many other genres, "Next" has been a commercial success thus far, due in large part to the guests who appear with Soulive on the album and how well they work with the group. Dave Matthews sings on a cover of Ani Difranco's "Joyful Girl," Black Thought of The Roots fame raps on "Clap" and Talib Kweli raps with the band on "Bridge to 'Bama."
What the album has that Friday's performance somewhat lacked is a greater sense of direction and structure. Critics of funk music have cited its tendency towards repetitiveness as one of the limitations of the genre. However, the album achieves a brilliant balance of hard-driving funk with laid-back grooves and harmonic variation, not to mention the rap, pop and R&B elements mixed in. This is one of the few times I can say I preferred listening to the album than hearing the group in concert.
Though I was impressed by the group's energy and rhythmic intensity on Friday night, I found myself wanting more harmonic variation in the tunes and even, on occasion, more rhythmic variation The band did mix it up at some points, especially when the power to the keyboards crapped out and Krasnow and Evans were left to solo for quite some time. The two of them showed a great ability to respond to the situation, as they were able to maintain the momentum as well as keep their playing varied and interesting during their solos. Yet, with regard to the overall flow and selection of tunes, the group seemed to be reverting back to the same groove each time. Which was not necessarily a bad thing, if you were just interested in moving around and dancing with the beat. On the other hand, I was left craving more of the harmonic diversity and tightness demonstrated on the album.
This leads me to speculate that the band has different goals in mind when it performs live for college kids than when it goes into the studio to record. Another factor that influenced the tone of their performance was its venue, Hampshire's gym-the group actually performed with a climbing wall as their backdrop. The music, I think, would most likely have been different had they been playing in a smaller venue.
Friday's concert was, for the most part, an intense, rhythmically driven jam-an enjoyable one at that. Perhaps I went in expecting too much. Having listened to "Next" all summer long, I was just a little disappointed that they didn't draw more from that album during their performance. I'd also be interested to see how this band functions with their horn player. I have a feeling it could be a different musical experience. Of course, I would still expect the same intensity that made Friday's performance memorable.