So figure this as an evening of neo-black blues and soul for the masses, all that’s missing is Kendrick. This is black mafia as black art. But really, there is no one D’Angelo can out do his Apollo gig and while I wouldn’t mind seeing either guy again… on a Sunday night???
D’Angelo has taken us from large funk band Prince, Funkadelic, Sly, etc, 1970s sounds through intricate experimental dance vibes all the way to the most intimate sharing. But it is more than that. he keeps on the one for 150 minutes, whether dressing down syncopated rhythms or destroying his rhythm section with mind blowing precision, any complaints have to be seen through this paradigm of world class dance music.
It’s not every day I see a top top show, an “A+” show. Since rock nyc has been around, in 2009 there was Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks” gig (the second one, at the Beacon), in 2012 Aretha Franklin at Radio City Music Hall, Bobby Womack at City Winery in 2013 and this January D’Angelo at the Apollo and that’s about it. So I don’t expect D’Angelo to best it at all, I don’t expect him to match it. I still expect him to be great..
On Friday, February 12th, 2012, I witnessed Aretha Franklin honor her recently deceased Goddaughter Whitney Houston at Radio City Music Hall, part pop manifesto, part revival meeting, the queen of soul sublimated her pain in song and worship. It was the best show I’ve seen this century. And D’Angelo at the Apollo was the second best show I’ve seen this century.
So I got my ticket yesterday for the Best Buy Theatre on West 44th gig on AMEX presale but what about folks without an AMEX card? Well, there is an AXS presale code and again rock nyc is proud to provide it. The tickets go on sale today (Thursday February 12th) at 10am.
Set up by a jazz fuel obtuse and angular version of Roberta Flack’s “Feel Like Making Love”, the primary soul man of his generation followed the song with “Really Love” and “One Mo Gin”. This was a double up so great you may have to go back to Van Morrison following “Gloria” with “Caravan” in 1974 to find a better one.”
At the Apollo Theatre, D’Angelo unveiled the sort of show that he can travel with for months, years, decades. A career spanning 150 minutes of funk and soul (neo-soul? Eh?) and the best 20 minutes, “Really Love” followed by “One Mo’ Gin”, you may ever hear.
The pacing never lagged, the performance was never less than completely in the moment. This is as great as live music gets, it was entirely living breathing, improvise and yet tight as hell soul music.A party and an art form. dance music as the final frontier of sound and the greatest soul man of his generation returned with all his powers restored
Backstage at last nights D’Angelo concert (my review will be up shortly) I got to chatting with some folks and was told that D’Angelo will be playing a concert in New York immediately following his European jaunt beginning February 11th in Zurich and ending March 7th.
Written eight years ago, Black Messiah would’ve been everything people say it is if the rest of the album was as great as “Really Love” and with D’Angelo’s gorgeous falsetto and a Spanish groove r&b love song of the first order at his disposal, the r&b man got all of it. A superb first vision of the post-Black Messiah star, apparently the Sly Stone comparisons are gonna have to wait some
D’Angelo’s first post- Black Messiah concert, and at the legendary Apollo, is the event of the winter season. Pound for pound, the greatest r&b singer of his generation, D’Angelo ended fourteen years of self-imposed silence with the difficult, universally acclaimed (almost, I was less keen) Black Messiah and here we get to see it live on stage
Really Love – D’Angelo – As anticipation mounts for D’Angelo at the Apollo a week today, this is samba track is about as mainstream, as D gets nowadays and it is really pretty good, maybe as close to a complete song as we are ever gonna get. Definitely a pleaser, a soft clicking shuffle with, can it be? a melody – B+
So I emailed Ticketmaster to ask them, a hail Mary and they came through and so does your everloving rock nyc who DOES NOT CHARGE FOR PRESALE CODES, when we can get em.
A friend of mine does business with WBLS but they go on sale at 10am on Monday (MLK day) and I doubt I will hear back on time, Apollo A List is a $75 charge so screw that and Ticketmaster presale…? What’s that about? I tried everything. I even tried phoning em, got throught to an automated system who advised me everybody was busy and disconnected me.
In a world where not one of these fools even reviewed Big Apple Blues, we have to put up with this act of mass felatio for a decidedly “B+” album. 95% approval rating on Metacritic. A whole mess of love for a frankly pretty darn good album. This consensus stupidity is just what you expect in 2014
when you don’t have songs you make art. Hard to deny, and for sure Black Messiah is no Voodoo –the songs aren’t there, they are all multi layered vocals on top (and inside) funk grooves where another beat replaces the melody line time after time.
Chief Keef, Charlie XCX (I’ve had this one in heavy rotation and it is absolutely among the best of the year) and Nicki Minaj are all possibilities but… D’ANGELO!!! his first album of new material since 2000 (is this the one Questlove was working on?) and anticipation doesn’t quite do my feelings justice
The Take Off And Landing Of Everything – Elbow – A sort of uncool, unelectronic, art band on their sixth album and first post-major breakthrough and they manage to top just about anything they’ve even done with the possible exception of “My Sad Captains”
D’Angelo’s live album from ’95 is a flat out masterpiece and a sad reminder opf a promise he just couldn’t keep. Was it two years ago ?Love was telling us the final over a decade late new D’Angelo was 90% finished? And what happened next? A handful of cancels and that is it, D’Angelo disappeared again
Daft Punk – Pentatonix – With zero interest in talent shows or pitch perfect cover versions, I was pleasantly amused by this a cappella mash up of Daft Punk songs into one glorious voice menage. If I’d heard it before I might have bought a tix to their Beacon gig – A
Every song these guys play sound the same as the one before em because every song gives it up to lead singer Damian Abraham. For good reason, and this is a fine song though it sure ain’t as good as “The Recursive Girl”. Not close – B+
A later generations Sly Stone releases a full set from circa Brown Sugar, twenty years after its expiration date and it is still better than just about anything else you might consider funk. There is no way to overstate the case for this album and if we are never getting another album and if he can’t release the Radio City Music Hall gig from 2000, this will do very nicely. ALBUM OF THE WEEK – A
Anything interesting? Lesse here: new Beck, Dierks Bentley, St Vincent, The Fray (THE FRAY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO), St. Vincent, Drive By Truckers, Cloud Nothings, and apparently D’Angelo has completely given up and is releasing a live album.
