Soulive continued their 6-night Bowlive residency at Brooklyn Bowl on Friday with a performance featuring Dead & Company bassist Oteil Burbridge.
Related: Eric Krasno’s Top 5 Bowlive Moments [Audio/Video]
While Oteil and his brother, Kofi Burbridge, have long been Soulive supporters (and collaborators), this particular meeting between Oteil and the trio—comprised of guitarist Eric Krasno, drummer Alan Evans, and keyboardist Neal Evans—marked the first Soulive/Burbridge collaboration since Kofi passed away earlier this year, adding an extra layer of emotional significance to the performance.
As Krasno told Live For Live Music ahead of the run, “Kofi and Oteil [Burbridge] were Soulive’s biggest supporters from day one. Oteil was on our first LP and Kofi sat in with us countless times over the years. They both always knew that they were welcome onstage and were an extended part of the band. There’s something transcendent about when the Burbridge and Evans bros make music together. I had the honor of sharing in that magic many times during Bowlive.”
The first half of the two-set performance saw the core Soulive trio work through renditions of a number of fan-favorites including “El Ron”, “Alladin”, “Azucar”, “Outrage”, “Waves”, and “Fire Eater” before taking the Brooklyn Bowl crowd into setbreak with a cover of The Beatles‘ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” featuring guest vocals from Elliott Skinner.
Oteil joined the fray at the start of set two and remained onstage for the remainder of the show. The Burbridge-augmented band got started with funky Oteil & The Peacemakers instrumental, “Butter Biscuit”, a song that’s tailor-made to thrive with the master instrumentalists of Soulive. Soulive’s “Hat Trick” was up next, followed by a bouncing cover of Bob Marley‘s “Natural Mystic” sung with appropriately mystical gusto by Oteil.
After a run through “Backward Jack”, the four-piece was joined once again by Skinner as well as fellow vocalist Victoria Canal for a moving rendition of “Natural Woman”, the Carole King classic widely popularized by the late Aretha Franklin‘s stirring version. Finally, the Soulive + Burbridge quartet closed out the set with a pair of go-to covers (The Beatles’ “Get Back”, Jimi Hendrix‘s “Manic Depression”). With time for one more, the quartet returned to the stage for an encore rendition of the Grateful Dead‘s “Fire On The Mountain”, which Oteil spent the summer singing on tour with Dead & Company. Midway through, Krasno waved Canal and Skinner back onto the stage to bolster the backup vocals, making for a celebratory finish to a memorable night of music.
Below, you can watch a full, pro-shot video of the performance via The Relix Channel and check out a gallery of photos from the show courtesy of photographer Andrew Blackstein.
Soulive w/ Oteil Burbridge & More – 7/12/19 – Full Pro-Shot Video
[Video: Relix]
Bowlive weekend one wraps up on Saturday night with a performance featuring lauded jazz fusion guitarist John Scofield.
For tickets to the July 13th show featuring John Scofield, head here.
For tickets to the July 18th show featuring Marcus King, head here.
For tickets to the July 19th show featuring George Porter Jr., head here.
For tickets to the July 20th show featuring Sam Kininger, head here.
Setlist: Soulive | Brooklyn Bowl | Brooklyn, NY | 7/12/19
Set I: El Ron, Alladin, Azucar, Outrage, Waves, Fire Eater, I Want You (She’s So Heavy)^
Set II: Butter Biscuit*, Hat Trick*, Natural Mystic*, Backwards Jack*, Natural Woman*+, Get Back*, Manic Depression*
Enc: Fire on the Mountain*
Notes: ^ w/ Elliott Skinner
* w/ Oteil Burbridge
+ w/ Victoria Canal and Elliott Skinner
The post Soulive Welcomes Oteil Burbridge & More On Second Night Of Bowlive VIII At Brooklyn Bowl [Photos/Full Video] appeared first on L4LM.
