In the past year I've become obsessed with music from Allido Records and Daptone Records: Amy Winehouse, Budos Band, Mark Ronson, Rhymefest, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Menahan Street Band, etc.
My friend Michelle, writer of Rocksnobs.com got to see Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings last fall and said they were excellent. Imagine my surprise when I found out they were going to be in Madison! It's a $7 bus ride to Madison from Beloit so I was determined to get there, even on a Wednesday night.
My friend Kelly and I had originally planned to go together (she's from Madison) but by the Monday after Thanksgiving she wasn't feeling too hot. But by that point my friend Emily and her step-brother Robbie had decided to go to the show as well, and luckily, Emily has a car!
Now, before I start gushing about how excellent the show was I have to promote my newest favorite album. I first heard a few tracks on Mark Ronson's friday night internet radio show Authentic Sh*t from Menahan Street Band's Make the Road By Walking. Menahan Street Band is a mash-up of artists from various Daptone Records groups Budos Band and the Dap-Kings. Seriously, I can't get enough of their album; I've find myself humming their tunes all the time. Go have a listen, right now, right here: http://www.myspace.com/dunhamrecords!
So, back to the show. I was already very pumped to see Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, whose album 100 Days, 100 Nights has been in my rotation for about 4 months now, but couldn't contain my surprise when the website updated to say that Menahan Street Band was ALSO playing. I had to call my sister and brag.
For only $22, Emily, Robbie and I headed up to Madison on Wednesday night. The snow subsided by the time we hit the road at 4:30 so the ride was uneventful. The show started at 7:30 so with an hour and a half to kill before hand, we went over to Monty's Blue Plate Diner, across the street from the Barrymore Theater. I had a GBLT (guacamole, bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich), Robbie had a bleu cheese and bacon burger and Emily had a grilled veggie salad. We all dug into a Turtle Sundae before heading back across the street to see the show.
It took a while for us to gain feeling back into our toes but we had a good time looking around the old theater. It even has winking, sparkly stars in the ceiling. At about 7:45, Menahan Street band came on stage and we went to stand in front of it. Our feet glued themselves to the floor, which I doubt has been ever mopped, and we watched a great set. By the end of the night, the floor had gone from sticky to slick because so much beer had been spilled.
With only one album out, the set lasted about half an hour but they brought out a special guest! Charles Bradley! He's a James Brown-ish sort of guy with a great voice.
It was another half an hour before Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings got on stage, and in that amount of time the number of people on the floor doubled. I'm only 5'2" and was wearing tennis shoes so I went from having a clear view of the stage to a clear view of everyone else's shoulders. About half of Menahan Street Band are also Dap-Kings so they came back on to stage in nice suits to play a few warm up songs. Binky Griptite sang a few before introducing Sharon Jones. That lady can sing and move! Sharon (only 4'11" herself) brought people up on stage to dance with her, had the audience sing back-up and danced non-stop. A good portion of the audience was also grooving along to her soul-funky voice. To end the show, Charles Bradley came back on and they sang a duet. By this point it was getting close to 11 but no one was willing to leave. An encore was asked for a we got it. Sharon sang another couple of songs before heading out to the lobby to sign merchandise.
Emily, Robbie and I were exhausted by this point and didn't bother to stick around. We knew we had an hour's drive back to Beloit and all had things to do the next morning. We took a quick drive past the capital because I had never really been through Madison before, and hopped on the interstate home. I was back in my room by 12:30 and crashed immediately, wondering if I'd ever get the beer off my shoes or make it out of bed in the morning.
Just yesterday I found out that they'll be playing in San Francisco at the end of January. Since I have two months off between the end of my Beloit semester and the beginning of my Australian semester, I'm going to try and see them again!
Oh, and I apologize for the low quality pictures but the shutter button fell off on my camera over Thanksgiving break and I haven't bought the $18 piece of plastic to replace it yet.
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