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Setlist
Tour Dates
16-Aug-17 An Intimate Evening at the Cutting Room NYC
19-Aug-17 Downtown Hampton Block Party Hampton, VA 2-Sep-17 Triple Play Concert Series New Lenox, IL 3-Sep-17 City Winery Chicago, IL 3-Sep-17 City Winery Chicago, IL 8-Sep-17 City Rock Festival Eindhoven, NL 9-Sep-17 City Rock Festival Leeuwarden, NL 10-Sep-17 MS Connexion Complex Manheim, Germany 12-Sep-17 Backstage Halle Munich, Germany 14-Sep-17 Porgy & Bess Vienna, AT 15-Sep-17 Zona Roveri Bologna, IT 16-Sep-17 Orion Ciampino, IT 17-Sep-17 Live Club Trezzo Sull'Adda, IT 19-Sep-17 Kofmehl Solothurn, Switzerland 20-Sep-17 Matrix Bochum, Germany 21-Sep-17 Le Forum Vaureal, FR 26-Sep-17 The Garage Glasgow, UK 27-Sep-17 Robin2 Wolverhampton, UK 28-Sep-17 Brudenell Social Club Leeds, UK 29-Sep-17 Rescue Rooms Nottingham, UK 30-Sep-17 Club Academy Manchester, UK 1-Oct-17 ULU London, UK 4-Oct-17 Waterfront Norwich, UK 6-Oct-17 Hangar34 Liverpool, UK 7-Oct-17 Riverside Newcastle, UK Read More
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Everything’s always cooler in the Shade---
Ahead of the September 8th release of Shade (Megaforce Records) , their first studio release since 2009, ‘90s seminal band Living Colour is back on the road, stopping recently in Rochester, MN for an outdoor show in downtown’s Mayo Park , part of the city’s free Down By the Riverside summer concert series.
As the intro music of Prince’s ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ grew silent, the band took to the stage for their ninety-minute set – “It’s nice out here…” singer Corey Glover remarked, “…not for long!” as he and the band that’s retained its same members for twenty-five years (Vernon Reid- guitar, Doug Wimbush- bass, Will Calhoun- drums) began with a twisted version of an almost hundred-year old Robert Johnson blues cover. “A little noisier now, huh?” Glover would say following, looking out at the somewhat surprised townspeople in lawn chairs and on blankets.
Glover’s banshee wail remains mostly intact, the result of the band’s on again/off again touring and his stint on Broadway as a musical actor. Reid’s guitar work is still mesmerizing to behold, and the rhythm section also gets better with age, masterfully blending rock, jazz, soul, and funk, into a mixture that was (and is) one of the most distinctive of their time.
1993’s ‘Wall’ has become an (unfortunately) relevant topic again and the band next dove into a couple songs from 1988’s breakout album, Vivid. “In a box, where it belongs” was Glover’s answer when someone shouted to ask where some of those vintage outfits were, as Reid’s guitar spoke in its unique language to intro ‘Desperate People’, with Reid and Glover playfully ribbing each other all night between songs.
Before their dedicated cover of Prince’s ’17 Days’, Reid told the story of the group being in this area the last time, just over a year ago at the Dakota Jazz Club, with Prince dropping in briefly to catch the band’s set. Two songs from the upcoming album were previewed next, lead single and Notorious B.I.G. cover ’Who Shot Ya?’ done in their trademark sound complete with soundbites, followed by ‘Who’s That’ with Glover crooning its outro.
“Ya’ll wanna dance?” Glover asked, as the band riffed into 1988’s Grammy-nominated ‘Glamour Boys’ and bassist Wimbish shone with his jazz-inspired ‘Swirl’ instrumental solo. “Did you hurt that guitar!?” Glover would ask after Wimbish finished. The punk reggae of The Clash’s ‘Police and Thieves’ merged into the band’s biggest hit, 1988’s ‘Cult of Personality’ with heads bobbing and even a few raised fists.
Will Calhoun’s drum solo was part traditional/part electronic as he moved about his kit, and tempo soon thumped up for ‘Time’s Up’ with Glover shouting, “Let’s do this like at First Avenue” with Reid’s experimental fret work working overtime on the song.
Glover had the audience working with their James Brown cover as that segued into another nod to The Clash with a set-ending cover of ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’, a song they often encored with in the 90’s.
With their still-distinctive sound and a new album on the horizon that preserves their core musical identity, yet updates things for modern times, Living Colour shows everything is still cooler in the Shade.
Ahead of the September 8th release of Shade (Megaforce Records) , their first studio release since 2009, ‘90s seminal band Living Colour is back on the road, stopping recently in Rochester, MN for an outdoor show in downtown’s Mayo Park , part of the city’s free Down By the Riverside summer concert series.
As the intro music of Prince’s ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ grew silent, the band took to the stage for their ninety-minute set – “It’s nice out here…” singer Corey Glover remarked, “…not for long!” as he and the band that’s retained its same members for twenty-five years (Vernon Reid- guitar, Doug Wimbush- bass, Will Calhoun- drums) began with a twisted version of an almost hundred-year old Robert Johnson blues cover. “A little noisier now, huh?” Glover would say following, looking out at the somewhat surprised townspeople in lawn chairs and on blankets.
Glover’s banshee wail remains mostly intact, the result of the band’s on again/off again touring and his stint on Broadway as a musical actor. Reid’s guitar work is still mesmerizing to behold, and the rhythm section also gets better with age, masterfully blending rock, jazz, soul, and funk, into a mixture that was (and is) one of the most distinctive of their time.
1993’s ‘Wall’ has become an (unfortunately) relevant topic again and the band next dove into a couple songs from 1988’s breakout album, Vivid. “In a box, where it belongs” was Glover’s answer when someone shouted to ask where some of those vintage outfits were, as Reid’s guitar spoke in its unique language to intro ‘Desperate People’, with Reid and Glover playfully ribbing each other all night between songs.
Before their dedicated cover of Prince’s ’17 Days’, Reid told the story of the group being in this area the last time, just over a year ago at the Dakota Jazz Club, with Prince dropping in briefly to catch the band’s set. Two songs from the upcoming album were previewed next, lead single and Notorious B.I.G. cover ’Who Shot Ya?’ done in their trademark sound complete with soundbites, followed by ‘Who’s That’ with Glover crooning its outro.
“Ya’ll wanna dance?” Glover asked, as the band riffed into 1988’s Grammy-nominated ‘Glamour Boys’ and bassist Wimbish shone with his jazz-inspired ‘Swirl’ instrumental solo. “Did you hurt that guitar!?” Glover would ask after Wimbish finished. The punk reggae of The Clash’s ‘Police and Thieves’ merged into the band’s biggest hit, 1988’s ‘Cult of Personality’ with heads bobbing and even a few raised fists.
Will Calhoun’s drum solo was part traditional/part electronic as he moved about his kit, and tempo soon thumped up for ‘Time’s Up’ with Glover shouting, “Let’s do this like at First Avenue” with Reid’s experimental fret work working overtime on the song.
Glover had the audience working with their James Brown cover as that segued into another nod to The Clash with a set-ending cover of ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’, a song they often encored with in the 90’s.
With their still-distinctive sound and a new album on the horizon that preserves their core musical identity, yet updates things for modern times, Living Colour shows everything is still cooler in the Shade.
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Living Colour at Down by the Riverside- Mayo Park, Rochester MN (30 July 2017) |
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