Lettuce kicked off its Get Up Tour with a riverside session at the breathtakingly beautiful and unequivocally vibey Mishawaka Amphitheatre in Bellvue, CO on Friday. Serving up grade-A certified funk, this 24-date tour hits most major markets and will wrap up with a four-night residency at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in Seattle, WA in early November.
The revered sextet of funk-stronauts showed up with a full tank of gas in their musical reserves, delivering what is sure to be a memorable show for everyone who was involved in the magic. The intimate stage framed by towering pines and unique sculptures caught the crowd’s attention as the band revved its engines for audible annihilation.
The title track to 2016’s Mt. Crushmore demanded the wheel to open up the evening. This exultant anthem brings a swaggy saunter, laced with grandiloquent hip-hop beats, ominous-yet-confident tones, and regal brass bites from Ryan Zoidis and Eric “Benny” Bloom that you simply cannot turn away from.
Next up was a nice little “Chameleon” > “Blast Off”, a tribute to the iconic number from the untoppable Head Hunters album by Herbie Hancock. This nod to the great was most likely inspired by drummer Adam Deitch’s trip to see the 50th-anniversary show of the original Head Hunters lineup at The Hollywood Bowl a few days prior. This linked version slips from “Chameleon” to Rage‘s “Blast Off”. This personal favorite and all-time party starter was followed by another of the same intention, “Lettsanity” from 2012’s Fly, an anthem that is at the heart of the band’s repertoire.
The historians of the coveted genre that is the funk gave us a lesson in raw and real with a delectable cover of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Yearnin’ Learnin’”, which gave Nigel Hall his first go at Lett-ing his chops loose, a voice so soulful it shakes you to your core. The energy in the atmosphere fused with the perfect summertime weather created a sublime reading of funky goodness, exuding vibrations of happiness and love.
“Silence is Golden” from 2020’s Resonate stole the show next, toning the vibe down just a notch to total levels of straight chill. The band’s boundary-pushing approach to conveying messages strictly through instrumentals can never be understated, as they take listeners on audible voyages through natural phenomena that exceed the realms of space and time. This song is no exception, producing the feeling of that inner knowing of unity, oneness, and spiritual connectivity to it all.
With no holds barred, the krewe shifted into set-one closer and fan-favorite “Phyllis”. Oozing trip-hop psychedelia, this song got down and dirty with Nigel Hall going full mad scientist on keys and Erick “Jesus” Coomes holding it down with his locked-in low-end. With a hyped-up crowd and unbeatable setting nestled in nature, attendees took a much-needed respite during set break to unload their bodily liquids, fill their cups, and chit-chat among like-minded groove guardians in the middle of having a damn good time.
Set two showed up with a complete energetic revival, as the group retook the stage more synergized than ever, a true testament to the decades of musical mastery the members have experienced together. They opened with “Change the World” off of 2022’s Unify, an uplifting creation with a simple but powerful sentiment explaining that “If we want to change the world, we gotta change our self first.”
The band then rolled hot into Elevate’s “Royal Highness”, an ode to the king of purple and reigning cultural phenom Prince. This synth-riddled, dance-inducing masterpiece of sound shows off the dynamic ways Lettuce infectiously marries inimitable rhythms and exotic melodies. Landing the vibe-ship into calmer waters, the band delivered “Shine”, before cooking up the classic sing-along “Do It Like You Do”, which had the entire audience emanating astronomical levels of feel-good energy.
This version of “Do It” gifted the crowd with a legendary medley sampling of staples, including D’Angelo’s “Chicken Grease”, James Brown’s “Make It Funky”, and Maceo Parker’s “Shake Everything You Got”. The stage turned into a riot of musical proportions—every member on stage was beaming, having the time of their lives and that was also reflected to and from everyone in attendance. It is also worth mentioning that at some point Nigel was so deep in the zone that he threw in a welcomed tease of Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative”.
The party didn’t skip a beat as the tunes continued right into Unify’s “The Lock” followed by ten glorious minutes of “Break Out”, with Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff fearlessly leading the band with his rhythmic licks. This slow-building number tells a story through its intricate composition, which features soul-touching solos from the horns as it slowly escalates to a fiery crescendo of peaking harmony. Last but certainly not least, the set capped off with “Trapezoid”, a song that completely unharnesses any inhibitions left lingering in the air. The breakbeat foundation creates a place for hip-hop, funk, and trap to shine boldly, as the Shady Horns transport listeners with their intoxicating hooks that anyone and everyone can get the funk down with.
The six space travelers left the stage for a stint before gracing us with a “Sam Huff’s Flying Ragin’ Machine” encore, another personal favorite that gets me in touch with all that’s right in the world. After thanking everyone who joined them, the Lett team said goodnight with apparent gratitude and proved that they are only getting tighter together with time. It’s truly a pleasure and honor to watch these brothers express themselves through the most powerful force we have: music.
Lettuce’s Get Up Tour continues with dates in the Western States into mid-September. Find tickets and a full list of concerts on the band’s website. Check out some partial videos below from Sydney Paschall and photos by photographer David Roseborough.
Lettuce — Mishawaka Amphitheatre — Bellvue, CO — 8/16/24 — Partial Videos
Setlist: Lettuce | Mishawaka Amphitheatre | Bellvue, CO | 8/16/24
Set One: Mt Crushmore. > Chameleon (Herbie Hancock) > Blast Off, Lettsanity > Yearnin’ Learnin’ (Earth, Wind & Fire), Silence is Golden > Phyllis
Set Two: Change the World > Royal Highness, Shine > Do It Like You Do [1] > The Lock, Break Out > Trapezoid
Encore: Sam Huff’s Flying Ragin’ Machine
[1] w/ “Chicken Grease” (D’Angelo), “Make it Funky” (James Brown), and “Shake Everything You Got” (Maceo Parker) jams
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