Caught the best gig I've seen in ages last night — a hot n' sweaty set by The Heavy, a quintet from the English hamlet of Noid (swear to god) who've somehow figured out a way to mix up classic funk and soul with hard rock and fuzzed-out garage, and actually make it work. The show, held at the Bordello down on E. First St. — aka Little Pedro's, aka L.A.'s oldest bar — was sponsored by Playboy's Rock the Rabbit line, but most of the folks in attendance seemed more interested in getting down with the band than with the Bunnies.
And get down with the band we certainly did. I haven't witnessed such a rock 'em-sock 'em soul show since the demise of San Francisco's mighty Kinetics back in the late 90s. Lead singer Swaby is a true star, a grinnin' and spinnin' soul man with a falsetto that would do Marvin or Curtis proud, and the rest of the band really knows how to cook up some seriously filthy, lowdown grooves. Would've liked to see 'em stretch out a bit on a few numbers (which would probably be easier if they did away with the click track), and keyboardist Little Hannah Collins has a powerful voice that's sorely underutilized — but then again, it's always nice to see a band where the emphasis is more on the groove than gratuitous displays of instrumental and/or vocal proficiency. Anyway, these folks are definitely the real deal, and I highly recommend their debut album, Great Vengeance and Furious Fire, which came out in the US a few weeks back. Here's the video for "That Kind of Man," one of the album's top tracks:
After the show, my friend William and I were talking to Swaby, who was drenched in sweat and had removed his shirt in an effort to cool off in the crowded bar. "Hey, buddy, put a shirt on," growled a passing bouncer. Swaby politely protested, only to be told, "Sorry, club rules." As the guy walked away, William started laughing. "This place is called The Bordello, but you can't take your shirt off?" he asked. A pretty sorry bordello, indeed...
Yep, that's the shiz. I also enjoyed the cleavage around 2:37.
Posted by: Michael Ansaldo | May 08, 2008 at 08:51 PM