Thursday, April 12, 2012

Alabama Shakes Letterman's World

In their ongoing quest for world Domination, Alabama Shakes stormed the Ed Sullivan Theater tonite in what may go down as one of the most memorable shows in the history of the Late Show. Celebrating his 65th birthday, Letterman had only one VIP guest, Billy Crystal, a man who only leaves his home for gala events, and the only Music Act on the planet these days, the incredible Alabama Shakes.

Crystal told a great true story about the dirtiest man in comedy, Red Foxx. How do I know Crystal is telling the truth, I have a recording of Red's album that he mentioned in the story: "Woman, You've Got to Wash Your Ass!"

But the best was saved for last, Brittany Howard and her White Boys of Alabama tore the roof off the place with a searing version of "Hold On". In the tradition started by the theater's namesake, if the host likes the act he goes over and chats with them and Dave gushed like a school girl. But who can blame him. Even my normally staid brother sent me the following mini-review of their show last Saturday in Baltimore, a show he flew out to attend from his home in Minnesota:

"The Baltimore venue was fantastic--three levels high and state-of-the-art sound and lights. The band was a tad reserved for a Saturday night and seemed to be saving for live broadcasts all week in Philly and New York. We were second through the doors and had the A-1 spot on the second level directly above the band. The band was in awe that I was calling out song titles after the opening notes, including b-sides not on the record. At one point Brittney looked up at me and laughingly said "this is a new jam, so save your breath." The drummer tossed two drumsticks at me at the end of the set and I missed both. The rhythm section is tight as hell, but the lead guitar was subdued after he broke a string early and had to play his back-up Tele all night instead of a Gibson 335."

But don't take our word for it, judge for yourself. Here's a whole set broadcast on MTV Tuesday:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.