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Live review: Black Joe Lewis
Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Getting over during the opening slot on Sunday on either of ACL’s two biggest stages can be a thankless assignment. Crowds can be small and insufficiently enthusiastic (read: hungover). The vast stage can be intimidating. And, well, most musicians do not relish the thought of throwing down at noon-thirty on the Sabbath.
Austin’s Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears had a simple riposte to all those concerns: a blast of concentrated, horn-driven R&B, soul and funk that jump-started both the day and the crowd.
“Sugarfoot,” from Lewis’ breakout album, “Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!”, lit up the soggy morning with peppery horns and a lock-tight groove.
Lewis himself is a shouter, in the proud and honorable tradition of Wilson Pickett, James Brown, Joe Tex and O.V. Wright. And the band’s tongue-in-groove vibe is reminiscent of the great house bands at Stax, Duke and Chess records.
That being said, Lewis & Co. are not merely trading in nostalgia. Songs like “Big Booty Woman” “Humpin’” (metaphor is not BJL’s long suit, admittedly) sound freshly imagined and vital.
And Lewis himself seems to be having a ball romping through an R&B playground without taking the whole thing too seriously. “I’m gonna be signing (autographs) during the Cowboy game,” he said with winning self-effacement. “I hope more than two people show up!”
Then it was back to business, with the breakneck Famous Flames-styled “Bobby Booshay” and the contagiously fun singalong of “Get Yo (Stuff).” It’s the kind of stuff that would go over better in a smoky nightclub near the stroke of midnight, but Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, to their credit, made Sunday noon seem like Saturday night.
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Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: ACL 2009: Sunday, ACL Festival 2009
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By Wendy
October 5, 2009 9:11 PM | Link to this
Black Joe Lewis was awesome…One of the best of the festival!
By RW
October 5, 2009 10:10 PM | Link to this
They were REALLY good! One of my new favorite bands! I’m glad they are Austinites. I will definitley check them out again.