LIVING COLOUR
At the Trocadero - Philly (12/04/03)
(Thanks to Tim Emgushov for his concert photo contribution to this review)
I got to the Trocadero around 9:30pm and met with the legendary, baddest
rock bass player this side of the world....TM Stevens....and his wife! After
some drinks, it was time to witness a miracle of a funk-rock show.......
Vernon Reid, Corey Glover & Doug Wimbish
LIVING
COLOUR took to the stage at 10:00pm to perform an oldie, "Memories Can't
Wait".....the highlights were during the 3rd verse when Wil Calhoun broke
it down on the mighty drums and when the band strategically threw in pauses
between lines....that was da bomb!! The guitar (courtesy of Vernon Reid) and
bass (courtesy of Doug Wimbish) rock chords were definitely solid and so was
the ever-so-passionate vocals of Corey Glover! "Song Without Sin"
(from the new CD, COLLIDE0SCOPE) was a great, hardcore funk-rock tune and
"Funny Vibe" was superb, with moments of punk-rock energy, Doug
announcing "Philly, welcome to your new neighbor!" and a bad case of
"nasty bass-itis"....DOUG, YOU"RE TOO CRAZY!! "? of
When" was another rock scorcher, which segued into "Operation Mind
Control" (like on the CD)......Vernon was the absolute star with some
crazoid guitarisms!! I caught some fans singing the chorus.....go ahead,
fans! "Ignorance is Bliss" was good. "In Your Name" was
a great piece of metal-bending, brain-melting stuff with the bass and guitar
a-blazin' with an element of Headfake/Jungle Funk artillery.....some
pre-recorded sound samples, like programmed drumbeats and laser-sounding
effects!
Corey sitting atop the
speaker.....admiring the energy of the audience!!!
"Flying" was a beautiful slow song, considering that it focused on
what probably happened to 2 people on that dreadful day on the upper floors of
the World Trade Center complex. The highlight of "Flying" was the
distorted guitar riffs of Vernon, but a funnier highlight was seeing Doug jump
in during the last 3 seconds of the instrumental break to shoot out a spanking
funk-bass riff!! "Sacred Ground" lit the club afire with the heavy
crunch of guitar-bass metal.....yours truly could not control himself! Wil is too lethal on drums......so bad, he
could break down tall buildings with his sticks of death!!! "Middle Man" and "Time's
Up" were great. "Cult of Personality" was da bomb......Wil was
lethal on drums, the guitar-bass rock combination was killer on the ears, and
the fans were in rock heaven!! Fans knew and sang the lyrics along with Corey!
Corey climbed atop a speaker and onto the second floor balcony, funkin' with
the Living Colour fans! Corey even demanded that the second floor fans stand on
their feet. The band finished and walked offstage, to come back a few minutes
later to do the Jimi Hendrix classic "Crosstown Traffic"........the
club was ripped apart by the rock force......them boys will work you like a full-time job
on the stock exchange pit!!!! Again, fans were singing the lyrics and Corey was definitely
feeling love from Philly! The show was over at 11:20pm.
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