I’ve been hearing about Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings for awhile, as they frequently play the D.C. area, but I’d never seen the Brooklyn-based funk/soul outfit before today.
Wow.
Jones is an old-school funk/soul belter who commands a stage with her bonafide musical talent,
The Dap Kings, a funky bunch themselves – eight pieces, including three brass players – laid down a relentless groove as Jones segued from “100 Days, 100 Nights,” the title track to their 2007 album, to an exhilarating James Brown homage.
Skating around the stage in her heels, Jones taught the audience – or, tried to – some classic Brown moves. “Me and Mr. Brown, we used to do the boogaloo,” she shouted, before whipping her head and legs into a frenzy.
Jones closed their set with a fiery take on Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” convincingly displaying why it “wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl.”
Also impressive were Rodrigo y Gabriela – fresh off the tour bus from last night’s gig at The National. I wanted to catch them in Richmond, but because of my morning drive today, I opted for the earlier show – Boston at Innsbrook with 5,000 classic rock fans.
That’s a story for another day.
The Mexican guitar duo were mesmerizing with their unique style of playing. Gabriela is the better player – all feminine finesse to Rodrigo’s deeper rumblings – and her playing is as intriguing to watch as to hear.
Splaying her right hand across all six strings, her fingers were a constant blur, alternating between attacking the strings and rolling her knuckles in a percussive thump against the body of her acoustic guitar.
While their method is rooted in classical and flamenco techniques, the sounds they pull from their instruments are as rock ‘n’ roll as anything by The Offspring – who were performing at the other end of the festival with their straight-up punk rock that is still apparently quite popular: at least 10,000 people crammed in to see their set.
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