Charles Bradley @ Melbourne Zoo Twilight Series, Melbourne (07/03/2014)
Charles Bradley took his sweet time getting famous.
But honestly, who could blame him? After getting abandoned at 8 months of age, running away from home at age 14, and getting drafted into the Vietnam War; at 65 year old, it seems Bradley has finally got all the bullshit of life out of the way, and found the time to truly be himself, and live his dream.
Reading about Bradley as a performer, I found that he spent some time moonlighting as a James Brown impersonator, performing under the name ‘Black Velvet’, which is fantastically kitsch.
No surprise then, that sitting down to watch Bradley as a part of the Melbourne Zoo Twilight Sessions, he was introduced as all master of ceremonies are. With a six piece band grooving out some funk vibes while the keyboardist laid out as many titles for Bradley as he could think of (prime examples being ‘The Screaming Eagle of Soul’, and the suitable ‘Zookeeper’) Bradley danced onto the stage and promptly took hold of the evenings procession.
Bradley’s first few songs were exciting and fun but, and maybe this is just for me personally, after a while I found myself forced to pay attention. When attending a funk/soul show I’m expecting to see plenty of instrumental improvisation, and a lot of energy, but Bradley and his band didn’t provide quite as much as I was looking for. Aside from one point where Bradley left the stage and his band played on, there wasn’t much room for a focus on the musicians, and perhaps that’s what was intended, but ultimately it didn’t make for a terribly exciting performance.
Ultimately while I was glad to go along as support Charles and his band I felt like they’re just not the kind of band for me, and while he does a fairly good job of performing, I’m not exactly in the market to watch ‘fairly good’ soul music.
Nick Kennedy
But honestly, who could blame him? After getting abandoned at 8 months of age, running away from home at age 14, and getting drafted into the Vietnam War; at 65 year old, it seems Bradley has finally got all the bullshit of life out of the way, and found the time to truly be himself, and live his dream.
Reading about Bradley as a performer, I found that he spent some time moonlighting as a James Brown impersonator, performing under the name ‘Black Velvet’, which is fantastically kitsch.
No surprise then, that sitting down to watch Bradley as a part of the Melbourne Zoo Twilight Sessions, he was introduced as all master of ceremonies are. With a six piece band grooving out some funk vibes while the keyboardist laid out as many titles for Bradley as he could think of (prime examples being ‘The Screaming Eagle of Soul’, and the suitable ‘Zookeeper’) Bradley danced onto the stage and promptly took hold of the evenings procession.
Bradley’s first few songs were exciting and fun but, and maybe this is just for me personally, after a while I found myself forced to pay attention. When attending a funk/soul show I’m expecting to see plenty of instrumental improvisation, and a lot of energy, but Bradley and his band didn’t provide quite as much as I was looking for. Aside from one point where Bradley left the stage and his band played on, there wasn’t much room for a focus on the musicians, and perhaps that’s what was intended, but ultimately it didn’t make for a terribly exciting performance.
Ultimately while I was glad to go along as support Charles and his band I felt like they’re just not the kind of band for me, and while he does a fairly good job of performing, I’m not exactly in the market to watch ‘fairly good’ soul music.
Nick Kennedy