One of my favorite bands at one of my favorite venues. I went with my wife and good friend Erik. It turned out to be every bit as good as I thought it would. They blazed through 22 songs with very few breaks. They opened up with "Middle Man" and "Desperate People" from their debut album Vivid. The versions were updated but still had the vibe of the originals.
Next up was "Go Away" from their heavy metal album Stain. A video was beamed onto the screen behind the band throughout the show, but in this song really worked well as they showed starving Africans as lead singer Corey Glover sang 'I see the starving Africans on TV...I feel it has nothing to do with me...I sent my $20 to Live Aid...I paid my guilty conscience to go away.'
"Funny Vibe" (Vivid) followed and bassist Doug Wimbash with the heavy funk bass on this song.
One of the highlights of other Living Colour shows I've been to did not disappoint at this show. "Bi" is a sexually charged tale that has the cautionary tale of be careful what you wish for. Corey puts a lot of suggestive movements with body parts and his eyes and breathes 'My lover told me that she's bi... I wanted to scream...there were tears in my eyes, she said baby, baby don't you cry cause the I am with you've been seeing on the side'.
Will Calhoun's drum solo was an interesting blend of standard drums and also electronic sounds. The rest of the band at this point left to catch a breath. Will has so many influences from so many cultures in his drumming it's impossible to name them all. He is an amazing drummer.
"Open Letter to A Landlord', my favorite track from Vivid is an emotionally charged song that the band was able to bring across well on stage.
Next they played "Burned Bridges", "The Chair", "Decadance", "Young Man", Method" and "Behind the Sun", all from their new album The Chair In The Doorway. (I'll be doing a review of it in another week). The high point in this block of songs was on "Decadance", Vernon broke a guitar string, and Cory had a couple of quips about how this "shit still happens after all these years". These new songs were good, but I haven't had a full chance to digest and break them down. So for now I can say the crowd loved them. All of the LC shows I've been to, the crowd has been informed and there is no silly screaming for "Cult Of Personality". The fans always know and sing along with the band on all songs.
The highlight of the night for the crowd came next as LC slid into "Papa Was A Rollin Stone". I have never seen them play this and the crowd really appreciated this cover of the Temptations classic. Corey turned this into a sing along for the crowd and everyone responded.
Funk laden, "Glamour Boys"(Vivid) has Doug holding down a bouncing bass line. "
After playing a couple of songs from The Chair In The Doorway, they played "Time's Up" at a frantic pace .
Then it was "Cult Of Personality" just before they left the stage. Another sing along.
The the first encore was "Love Rears It's Ugly Head" (Time's Up). Corey and Vernon went all out on this one. Then the last song, their cover of Hendrix "Crosstown Traffic". Somehow they managed to inject even more swing than the original.
Living Colour have been together, with this line-up, for over 15 years. They are a tight unit live that always manages to have a few tricks up their sleeve. If you get a chance I would highly suggest that you go see Living Colour.
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