Academik

Wednesday was the concert for the recently re-united Brand New Heavies at Mezzanine - apparently someone here has taken a list of my favorite bands and asked them to come perform - thanks Travis! I had heard of the Brand New Heavies back in my high school days, but I was too deep in teenage angst to realize what great music this was. So i show up on Wednesday and I happen to run into the guitarist and lead singer of Phonofly. I’m not sure if the title is official yet, but at the last show for Phonofly (Halloween at the Rock-It Room) I think they dubbed me official dancer for the band - I still have to pay the cover charge to get in though :<

Back to Brand New Heavies - a couple years back I picked up their album Trunk Funk Classics 1991-2000 and was hooked on this combination of soul/funk/pop/hip-hop. Brand New Heavies has a really unique sound that you can instantly recognize. Their big hits, “Stay This Way”, “Dream On Dreamer” and “Sometimes” are all on this CD that also features my favorite track, “Soul Flower”, a collaboration with Pharcyde. If I had to describe Brand New Heavies in terms of other bands I would say James Brown mixed with Erykah Badu, blended and dusted with pop.

Unfortunately I’d lost the CD a while back so I didn’t have a chance to catch up for the concert, but the opening act, Sutro (the lead singer’s crazy hat pictured to the left reminded me of a Seinfeld joke… the 90’s called, they want their hat back) got the party off to a decent start. Their music is a mix of live instruments and programmed tracks that pull heavily from the trip-hop and downtempo genres. Their music was good, but I never felt like it went anywhere - no breakdowns, no liftups - at least none powerful enough to remember. Decide for yourself on their MySpace page by clicking on their name above.

Brand New Heavies came out to cheers and clapping from the almost packed house. They started playing and immediately I remembered their sound - funk/pop/soul goodness - it’s the type of guitar playing and rythm that make your body want to pop & lock, your hips shake, your eyes close, and for a few minutes the world seems pretty damn good - oh and it also makes you want to get laid.

I was lucky enough to meet two friends there, Jodi and Jill, so I got a special invite to a birthday party upstairs… Happy 30th Jameson, Manager at Mezzanine!
They opened with Dream on Dreamer and then progressed through a number of songs I didn’t recognize. Then the decidedly Scottish sounding guitarist got on the mic and he introduced each of the band members - each did a wicked solo. All in all it was a good concert - perhaps not worth the $30 ticket, but good to see a great band back together. Also whoever decided that concerts on a Wednesday should go until 1am needs to take a hike. If a concert takes place during the middle of the week I say I should be able to be home by midnight. Am I the only one who feels this way?

Video of Brand New Heavies performing Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes

-one of these days I’ll get a better camera, or there will better light… I promise

Click here to listen to some original tracks by the Brand New Heavies