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Setlist
Tour Dates
Nov 3, 2021 - NOV 7, 2021 Soulshine At Sea Miami, FL
Jun 3, 2022 Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater Vail, CO Jun 4, 2022 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Morrison, CO Jan 25, 2023 Paradiso Amsterdam, NL Jan 26, 2023 Doornroosje Nijmegen, NL Jan 27, 2023 De Oosterpoort Groningen, NL Jan 29, 2023 Maassilo Rotterdam, NL Jan 30, 2023 Ancienne Belgique Brussels Jan 31, 2023 Luxor Cologne, Germany Feb 1, 2023 Gretchen Berlin, Germany Feb 3, 2023 Circolo Magnolia Milan, Italy Feb 4, 2023 Bierhübeli Bern, Switzerland Feb 5, 2023 New Morning Paris, France Feb 7, 2023 St. Luke's Music & Arts Venue Feb 8, 2023 Manchester Academy 2 Manchester Feb 10, 2023 O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire London Read More
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It was a Good Day for a Good Night--
Live music under the stars on a clear night for a good cause, joyous and life-affirming songs, bike riders prepping for the next day’s race.. and even Belgian waffles.
The Michael Franti Trio headlined the kickoff concert for the Belgian Waffle Ride, taking place in Northeast Kansas for the first time, with an outdoor concert on 8th and Mass in downtown Lawrence, to benefit the Steve Tilford Foundation.
In its tenth overall year, The Belgian Waffle Ride (BWR) provides professional and amateur cyclists the opportunity to ride over up to a 111.11-mile route throughout the northeast region of Kansas for the first time, benefiting the Steve Tilford Foundation, named for the multi-award winning mountain biking legend.
Area band Maria the Mexican opened the evening with a forty-minute set of mariachi/cumbia-influenced indie rock that is tinged with blues, soul, and funk. The group is led by Topeka-bred singer/guitarist Maria Cuevas but is actually named after her grandmother, a member of one of the first all-female mariachi bands, Mariachi Estrella who unfortunately had seven members perish in a 1981 Kansas City hotel skywalk collapse.
They sing in both English and Spanish and their musical bandleader is husband/guitarist Garrett Nordstrom with the night being even more of a family affair, as Cuevas’ cousin played keyboards and her parents watched proudly from the wings. Newest single is “Mexicans and Americans” with a new album forthcoming, and the band plays next (and judges a beard contest?!) in nearby Tongonoxie on Nov. 20.
After a set change and the walk-on music of The Waterboys’ “The Whole of the Moon”, The Michael Franti Trio began their hundred-minute set with a video and spoken word taped introduction from Franti, reflecting on his time during the pandemic, the loss of friends and his biological father to Covid, and what has shown to have authentic value in this modern world.
Franti, a globally recognized musician, humanitarian, activist and filmmaker has kept busy during the global lockdown, writing new songs for he and group Spearhead, performing numerous “Stay at Home” livestream concerts, launching a “Stay Human” podcast, and continuing efforts for his wish-granting non-profit, Do It for the Love, as well as de-camping at his Soulshine Bali, a yoga retreat hotel in Indonesia where he moved to, in early 2020.
We’ve seen the always-barefoot Franti previously with full band Spearhead as well as completely solo, but never as a Trio, a configuration which also seemed to work. Completing the lineup was the core of his main band, bassist Carl Young (who he’s played with since 1994) and his guitarist since the early 2000s, “J-Boogie” Bowman. Between the video accompaniment and taped backing tracks, we only really missed the distinctive sound of live drums from the final mix.
From the onset, Franti had the happy crowd interacting, jumping and singing along, beginning with the opening “This Is How We Living” and 2013 radio hit “I'm Alive (Life Sounds Like)”, then Franti went deep into the crowd to sing “Just to Say I Love You” from the back end of the venue. Franti now usually plays to Red Rocks-sized audiences of 10,000+, so seeing him play a smaller blocked-off downtown street, was fortunate to those present and his inspiring lyrics and spirit of optimism proved eminently infectious, in the best possible way.
The reggae-tinged new “All My Friends” had crowd members hugging in unison, and Franti reflected on the April loss of his biological father and being able to only stage a virtual funeral, which helped inspire the new song, “People Need People”. The mood lightened as Franti and band also live debuted another new song, “Best at Loving You”, about just doing as much as you can, in any small but positive way.
Dancing broke out as audience partners swung around during 2013’s “Life is Better With You” and three songs from the newest record, Work Hard and Be Nice (Thirty Tigers Records) followed, with “I Got You” and “Life Reminds Us We’re Alive” both sounding musically U2-influenced, which seems natural as Franti’s previous band opened in stadiums on the 1992 ZooTV Tour.
The crowd spilled on-stage to dance alongside the trio for their biggest radio hit, 2008’s “Say Hey (I Love You)” and their set ended with 2016’s “My Lord” followed by a group bow and singalong to a taped “Imagine” by John Lennon. Before he left the stage, Franti reminisced about his longtime local connections, including playing closed local punk rock venue The Outhouse (presumably with former band The Beatnigs) and collaborating on an album with beat author William S Burroughs.
This was simply the kind of show we need right now- brimming over with love and soul-lifting optimism as things gradually open back up and shared events like live concerts can hopefully continue. The Michael Franti Trio was the ideal musical remedy for anyone depressed or downtrodden, or simply fatigued from twenty months of social distancing.
Their message is simple, but positive, inspirational, and embracing - “Today would be a very good day just to have a good day, with a little more love and a little more laughter. a little more good vibes, less disaster” and that seems enough to ask for.
(click on any image to enlarge and see in full)
Maria the Mexican |
Maria the Mexican | Maria the Mexican | Michael Franti Trio Setlist | Michael Franti Trio | Michael Franti Trio |
Michael Franti Trio | Michael Franti Trio | Michael Franti Trio | Michael Franti Trio | Michael Franti Trio |
Michael Franti Trio at 8th&Mass Lawrence, KS (2021-10-29) |
| john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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