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SXSW review: Nino Moschella and Darondo
After the excitement of standing in line at Club de Ville, wondering if the fire marshals conferring with the gatekeepers would ever let us in, the first few songs I finally got to hear of Nino Moschella’s 10:45 set were a bit of a disappointment.
Keyboardist-guitarist Moschella has a very good voice, with a Prince-ly falsetto, but the songs were just kind of Prince knockoffs, and although his two-piece horn section and the conga player were kicking it, the drummer had more of a rock than a funk feel, which didn’t go with the rest of the music.
But then Moschella brought Ubiquity labelmate Darondo out. Darondo was a soul sensation in the Bay Area decades ago, but dropped out of the scene completely after releasing just a few singles, which are now highly collectible. A collector duly tracked Darondo down not too long ago, and Darondo showed Saturday that although his career had been in mothballs, he never forgot how to work a crowd. The band’s energy went up tenfold as soon as he walked out on stage, natty as all get-out in his brown suit and high pompadour. Even audience members who had been busy texting and playing with their iPhones howled as soon as Darondo started to sing, in a powerful, astringent voice (a little bit like a more tightly-wound Al Green).
Darondo did a couple of numbers that could make him R&B’s answer to Dr. Ruth, singing instructions on how to treat your woman right, and even advocating a stop on the way home to purchase “that can of whipped cream — and a can of cherries,” before embarking on a rap about what to do with those aids to romance.
“Get down on your knees,” sang Darondo, and he wasn’t talking about praising the lord. The crowd loved it. Once he had them, he turned to other matters, such as a socially conscious “Let My People Go” (not the more familiar song) and cheery “My Momma and My Poppa.” Finally he got back to the topic at hand, and the number fans were waiting for: “Legs.”
Darondo appeared just as delighted by the crowd as they were with him, proclaiming “I might have to change my home!”
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By Siobhan Alfat
March 18, 2008 5:07 PM | Link to this
While I agree with your props for Dorando, I think you’re way off on Mr. Nino Moschella. He’s clearly Prince influenced, but “knock-off”? No way. And his band was hot. I loved his show and can’t wait to get his CD.
By George Luke
March 19, 2008 10:35 PM | Link to this
i agree with your props for darondo as well…and 2nd the comment above to you being way off for mr nino moschella. what show were you watching? did you just catch the intro from the heat lamp in the way back, then waddle to get a drink, read yer cliff notes for nino in the overflowing bathroom, then make it to the floor for darondo portion of the set. prince knock off songs? please do list what songs you think nino was knocking off.