all photos from the 09/28 denver show, courtesy of Lori W.

driving through downtown dallas the palladium ballroom, i had mixed feelings about the night that lay ahead of me. on the one hand the three mimosas i had just consumed were settling in nicely and i was definitely excited about getting to see sharon jones & the dap-kings live, something i had always heard was a must-experience. on the other hand, i was going to a show by myself for the first time in as long as i can remember. little did i know i had my good friend jack daniels and a set of action-packed soul ahead of me. hit the cut for a recap of the night’s events.

– panda

arriving at the palladium, i was greeted by grace potter howling something fierce while banging away at the keys. her long-haired cohorts in the nocturnals were churning out their soulful brand of rock/blues in perfect rhythm. all of the nocturnals material i had heard up to this point had left me on the fence about the band. and while i can’t necessarily call myself a convert, i can say that i was definitely impressed by their live show. potter knows how to give off a well balanced mix of sexuality and emotion with every note, and the band impress with their precision, especially considering the “jam-ish” nature of the music. my biggest complaint of their set was that they ended it with their worst (and most popular) song, the stomach churning “paris (oh la la)”. that and the fact that they did a group bow post performance…to a crowd of a few hundred people. bon jovi they ain’t.

during the intermission, i couldn’t help but notice the diversity in sharon jones’ fanbase. i honestly don’t think i’ve ever seen so many people over 40 at a show that wasn’t a musical before. ageism aside, fans of seemingly every genre of music under the sun filled the building with excitement as we waited for miss jones to take the stage.

following the break, the sartorially precise gentlemen of the almighty dap-kings began to take the stage. after a few words about the night we were in for, the band launched into some ‘warm up’ joints. instrumental pieces and covers both, hot damn did they get the place moving. after a few numbers, the band had the crowd at a pitch as they introduced the woman of the hour. along with her back-up singers, miss jones took the stage in a silver-sequined dress fit for a diva. and a diva’s welcome she recieved. the energy in the room didn’t let up for a second as they launched into a variety of songs, never once letting up, even on the slow jams.

jones and her crew also knows a thing or two about crowd participation. the first few songs contained miss jones bringing gentleman onto the stage as she shimmied on and crooned to them. she must not have noticed that i had dressed up for her (tie included), because i unfortunately wasn’t one of the chosen ones. not one to leave her ladies out, jones filled the stage with women from the crowd for quite the show. teaching them moves and then literally dancing them off stage, jones is every bit the entertainer as she is the musical talent. as an entity, sharon jones & the dap-kings know how to put on a show. every minute of their near two-hour set harked to the days of theater shows filled with dancing and genuine appreciation for the soulful music being played. my attempts to accurately obtain a set list were thwarted early by my desire to dance, and the bands’ desire to make sure everyone in the building was having a good time.

one could easily swear that sharon jones was put into the music world during the wrong decade. it’s easy to stereotype modern soul artists as “throw back”, even if they are seasoned veterans. personally though, i think she’s perfect exactly where she is. she’s not here to remind us of what soul was. she’s here to show us what soul is. what it sounds like, what it looks like, and most importantly…what it feels like.

– panda