Trombone Shorty (Troy Andrews)
But most of all it was toe-tappingly, gyratingly, engaging. This was music that grabbed hold of you for the whole of a hundred minute set and refused point blank to let go. It helped that this is technically an extremely tight ensemble. Though Dan Oestreicher on baritone sax to Joey Peebles on drums particularly stood out, there really wasn't a week link there.
Joey Peebles
As an inept trombonist myself, it was a particular treat to hear what someone of the calibre of Trombone Shorty can do with the instrument. Though, in fact, he shared his affections with the trumpet, on which he was no less assured. That's when he wasn't singing. It was almost showing off, really. But then, he is a showman, as he demonstrated with an impressively extended note which seemed long even allowing for circular breathing, after which he collapsed theatrically to the ground. That this came in the midst of their version of Louis Armstrong's On the Sunny Side of the Street, perhaps gives an idea of how high octane an evening this was.
Trombone Shorty directs Orleans Avenue
And when he wasn't playing, or singing, he was dancing about the stage directing his band, almost like a conductor at times. It was infectious, from the people dancing at the front, to those of us tapping our feet in the gallery and even the enthusiastic lady who kept trying to climb onto the stage.
My main complaint is that it was all a little too loud. Call me old fashioned, but I don't see the need for gigs to be so loud that you have to plan on bringing earplugs to avoid hearing damage. There's just no need. Also, the balance on the instruments wasn't ideal. I couldn't hear Mike Ballard's bass as well as I would have liked, and even Trombone Shorty himself could at times have been more prominent. His spoken links between songs were often not audible, though despite this he still managed to build up a good rapport with the audience, whether it be getting them to echo a chorus, clap, or when he descended into the audience at the end.
Orleans Avenue - All Change!
All in all, it was tremendous fun. And clearly the band were having fun too. Midway through their encore, Trombone Shorty removed his mouthpiece and then climbed up to the drums. It wasn't immediately apparent what was going on, but one by one the band took up each other's instruments. The last time I saw this done it was Mitch Benn and the Distractions (also at The Queen's Hall), and they did it to make a joke about politicians stealing each others tunes. Here it was probably a mix of showing off and providing a little bit of extra stardust at the end. It worked.
Thanks to The Queen's Hall for providing the photos. Click on any of the photos to see the full size image or take a look at The Queen's Hall's entire Flickr stream.
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