Well, I’ve been slackin on putting out reviews, but have seen some killer music in the past couple weeks. Let me start here:
G. Love & Special Sauce with Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad at the House of Blues in Orlando on March 27, 2010. For those who don’t know, G-Love is an alternative, blues, hip hop band from Philly and Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad is sort of a roots reggae experimental live-dub band.
Show opened by the Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, and were damn convincing for four white guys playing dub reggae. The members are: James Searl – Bass, Vocals; Chris O’Brian – Drums, Vocals; Dylan Savage – Guitar, Vocals; and Aaron Lipp – Hammond B3 Organ, Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, Percussion, Vocals. No, it’s not a mistake – they are partake in vocals and quite well I might add. Tunes ranged from pure dub style reggae to heavy grooves bordering on a classic funk jam sound. This is right up my alley, so I became an instant fan. Even bought a CD and the guy selling them loaned me a buck (thanks man!). Big up to the man behind the mix too adding the dub flavor … If you haven’t checked them out, I suggest you do so.
Next came G. Love & Special Sauce. The guys are a solid group lead by G-Love’s blues guitar style and hip-hop rooted lyrics. The members are: G. Love – vox/guitar/harp; Timo Shanko – bass; Houseman – drums; and Mark Boyce – keys. I have to say that the bass player nearly stole the show in my opinion. Full upright bass that he played like a toy. Good job man. It was my first time seeing G-Love and his vocal styling is unique for sure. Damn good guitar player and harp too. He did an acoustic solo as an encore that was traditional and a very cool way to end the show. Great night over all, highly recommend checking out this tour if it rolls through your town.
Some links to the offical websites and MySpace below: