LIL' BRIAN & THE ZYDECO TRAVELERS

At Warmdaddy's - Philly (2/10/07)

 


 



Lil' Brian, Master of Z-Funk!

I walked in late for the Lil' Brian & the Zydeco Travelers show (around 8:30pm) while the band was performing a lively zydeco song that sounded similar to "Ma' Tit Fille", featuring J-Mo on some serious thumpasorus bassics!!! After that funky workout, it was to something a little sweeter, "Summer Girl". "Rock Me Baby" was a great performance, thanks to the funky wah-wah guitaring of Lee Lee! "Uncle Cliff" was a very fast, rockin' zydeco song that should have gotten more people on their feet dancing, but then again, this was a restaurant so... "Black Butterfly" was followed by "Thigh Drivin'", another zydeco workout for accordion king Lil Brian, washboard musician Jimmy and power drummer Gregory! "Backstabbers" was very good, especially the way the band stopped for 10 seconds and then went back into the song. The first set was over at 9:30pm.




J-Mo on the bass!


The second set started at 10:00pm...the band performed more of the funky zydeco stuff, including one song that featured some great rock guitaring (I'm sorry that I don't have a complete set list for this set). The guys performed something that included a little bit of Parliament's "Up For the Down Stroke" and some James Brown-style rhythm guitaring (a la "Sex Machine"). "Get Up On That Zydeco" was followed by "Ma Tit Fille" and "Ya Ya", both great songs made famous by Buckwheat Zydeco. The second set was over at 11:00pm.




Gregory on the skins!


At 11:30pm, the final set started with the festive, uptempo zydeco monster, "Jackin' This Song" where Lil Brian substituted the last line of the chorus with "But life goes on". The tempo slowed down a little for the next song, "Makin' Green". After that, it was on to some booty-shakin', hip-quakin', quick-paced zydeco funk that finally got some of the fans shakin' their butts! Just when it was over, the band hit the fans with "807 Magnolia", another booty-shaker...although not as intense. They performed "Summer Girl" for the second time, followed by the Rolling Stones "Beast of Burden" which featured some reggae rhythms (as they incorporated the Bob Marley tune "No Woman No Cry" into the song)!! "Funky Nation" was followed by an instrumental jam that incorporated chunks of Herbie Hancock, Sly Stone ("Thank You Fallettime Be Mice Elf Agin") and Funkadelic ("Cosmic Slop")...J-Mo was smokin' up Warmdaddy's with the thick, stanky basslines for "Thank You" and Lee Lee nearly burned down the joint with the explosive lead guitar blasting on "Cosmic Slop"...Kidd Funkadelic, are you there??! It was over at 12:30am.




Lil' Brian and friend, John D. Wesley!


Click here for pictures of Lil' Brian & the Zydeco Travelers



Go back to my home page

 




Submit suggestions or comments to david.brooks@brookenstein.com