HEARTBREAK & HOPE: So 5 days into 2015 and thanks to Sean M OBrien and Brokenmold Entertainment Ive already seen the show of the year! CHARLES BRADLEY was simply mesmerizing last night at Crowbar in Ybor City. He is indeed The Screaming Eagle of Soul and his jam-packed show was a triumph! A street survivor who invokes the faded ghosts of the greatest soul singers of the past like Otis Redding and of course James Brown. He sang his beautiful songs of hope & love and the crowd transformed into a Charles Bradley love fest. The crowd danced along to the funky grooves courtesy of his backing band the Extraordinaires with ultra-tight funky beats, fuzz guitar and dancing groovy horn section. His howls, screams and pelvic thrusts with arms outreached conjured a prophet of love spreading his word to anyone who would listen. His music is both joyful & tearful just like the life hes led. Like us all hes a Victim of Love, but hes hell bent on sharing his songs or prayers you might say as he plays his heart out. Leaning heavy on cuts from his new album he played Confusion a reverb drenched psychedelic funky jam, the slow burning Crying in The Chapel, You Put The Flame on It, Love Bug Blues sort of a Temptations revival, Strictly Reserved For You as well as older cuts from his debut 2011s No Time For Dreaming. He left it all on the hot & sweaty stage with one of the most amazing & soulful performances Ive ever seen. Before his final encore of Clarence Carters 1968 hit Slip Away he talked about the message of his final song Let Love Stand a Chance with its mournful plea All Im asking, all Im asking, just give love, love a chance. Before leaving I felt compelled (like everyone else) to hug him and tell him I loved him. He hugged me back and said I love you too, and then said dont worry Ill be back. (RV)
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 20:59:05 +0000
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