Living Colour Restored My Faith in Rock

by John M. Ellison IV

*Cue up the “24″ theme* Around 9:30 pm Friday night sept. 11th 2009. My dad’s longtime friend and co-hort Ernie mentioned that legendary rock band Living Colour was going to be in the area doing a gig. Since the Missus was at the computer, I asked her to look up Living Colour in Maryland. She found their Myspace page and it mentioned that they were going to be at Ram’s Head Tavern in Annapolis, MD. Being the “anti-social” recluse I can be at times, I don’t go to shows that often. But, for Living Colour, I had to put my neurosis aside and see if I could get to this show. This was a situation that I wouldn’t regret. The show was nearly sold out; there were only 6 tickets left after the Missus and I got ours.

We arrived at Ram’s Head Tavern around 7:30 PM. For those who haven’t been to Ram’s Head Tavern, Ram’s Head has an intimate, assigned seating, dinner and a show format setup. Which, is quite different from the more contemporary standing room, “prepare to mosh and skank” atmosphere a la CBGBs and most other venues. We found our table and ordered dinner. While checking out our surrounding, I noticed a lot of Curtis Mayfield playing throughout the P.A. system. There was a diverse crowd of people which included old school Black rockers wearing Jimi Hendrix tees, a lot of folks looking to be “yuppies” and guys wearing “Harley Davidson” T-shirts, but who didn’t exactly scream biker. My first thought was “…Are these guys regulars here?” and “Do they know what’s in store for them?” But, listening closer, I heard one of the “yuppies” praising the fusion of genres by bands such as Fishbone and Living Colour. Another couple sat down at the table next to the Missus and I. I asked them, “Excuse me, are you two here often?” however, like us, it was their first time at Ram’s Head as well. Also, later on during one of the interludes, Also, Corey made a reference to the “dinner and a show” format by jokingly referring to the performance as “Dinner Metal”

I didn’t get there name’s so we’ll just call them “Brad” and “Lisa.” “Brad” was this dude that looked like he was about business…but, when it came to kickin’ out the jams, he knew how to kick back when needed. In fact, during the night, the more he drank he talked of business deals to “Lisa.” But we spoke and I was impressed by his knowledge of Living Colour and even liked Corey’s R&B album. I then realized that those “yuppies” that surrounded me were here for the band. They weren’t in the wrong place getting “shit faced.”

I committed one of the cardinal sins in music, I judged on looks instead of character. Something that we have to quit doing.

At 8:28, The band walked onto the stage, the crowd cheered until it was a distorted mass. Corey does a quick rap to the audience and to add to the “fusion” theme, an animated psychedelic image was projected throughout the show. The band opened with “Desperate People”, which blasted from the gate thrash, and went into a heavy groove that’s made for moshing or for the dance floor. Along with Vernon’s virtuoso guitar playing, and Will and Doug’s sporadic blasts of fusion drum and bass virtuosity throughout the song, made this live version mind blowing.

The band seamlessly segued into “Type”, which transformed from a rocker into a psychedelic dub/fusion jam with Corey Glover sounding like Eddy Grant.
It was a heavy swinging rendition of “Ignorance is Bliss” with a blast of Thrash and old school Gospel.

Corey then started a call and response chant with him saying “Everybody!” The audience replied “Everybody!” and when the crowd was enough into the groove, they went into there “Bi.” For those who don’t know, “Bi” is a funky ode to bi sexuality, but the coolest part of this performance was when the crowd popped in applause and cheering for this awesome guitar soloing. At further notice, I realized this soloing wasn’t the six string fret work of Vernon Reid, but it was Doug Wimbush shredding on bass and walking through the audience exhibiting his skill!

As the rest of the band took five, Will Calhoun got to do a set that exhibited his furious drum chops that were reminiscent of Billy Cobham. Throughout the set, Vernon set up some “four to the floor” techno drum loops off his laptop. So, you had Will just blasting away these splinter inducing poly rhythms that sounded like a machine gun and was just as intense as said weapon.

The set up kind of reminded me of The Black Page No. 2 off of “Zappa in New York.” Along with the techno drum loop, Doug’s drum sticks had these neon flashing lights in them that gave him the, as I call it, “Funky Raver” look. At the rate of speed of Calhoun’s drumming, all you could see was a neon blur and the sound of Doug beating the drums like it owed him money!

Then, the drumming was complimented by synth pads, and it segued into the touching “Letter to the Landlord.” While Corey was doing this long sentimental “takin’ it to chuch” vocal dexterity, Corey’s vocals were almost unearthly. In the breakdown, the audience was singing, and we felt like we were sharing one consciousness and better off for it.

After playing the classics of there repertoire, Corey was talking about the new album “Chair In The Doorway.” As a treat, instead of playing a few cuts off of it, they played the album entirety for us. For those who haven’t heard it, the album has a grimier texture, a bit darker, but still melodic. It sounded like a mash up of 70’s Black Sabbath and Funkadelic, produced by Trent Reznor.

Burned Bridges

The Chair

DeccaDance

Young Man

Method

Behind the Sun

Bless Them

Hard Times

Taught Me

Out of Mind

Not Tomorrow

Asshole

After the album, there’s a clip of a politician was making a speech being played. By the time the audience realized what it was, the band breaks into the classic “Cult of Personality.” To describe how the audience reacted, saying “they went crazy” would be an understatement. The audience went batshit psycho! Everyone got out of there chairs and started jamming out. They ended the show with the appropriate cover of The Clash‘s classic “Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now?” The guys jammed on it, in an A/B pattern of Funky, Thrashing, Funky, Thrashing and a nu-metal-ish breakdown. Afterwards, they announced that you could buy the album at the merchandise table and they were signing autographs as well.

Without hesitating, the missus and I made it to the line. While waiting to get an autograph, a few attendees and people that worked with the band noticed and complimented me on my Afro-Punk shirt that I was proudly wearing for this event. For those who don’t know, Afro-Punk is a documentary that was released in 2003 that interviewed Afro-Americans in the punk scene. Afro-Punk also has a website, that really has grown into a phenomenon of it’s own. Some of those who noticed my shirt had seen the movie and after many compliments I mentioned that I was a prominent member of the board. There were those who didn’t know exactly what Afro-Punk was about, so I answered some questions about the site.

Then, I had the chance to get a photo and an autograph with the band. Totally moment of truth. After the traditional exchange of “hellos” Vernon proceeded to sign my notebook. As Vernon was signing my notebook, I mentioned to Vernon that we have a few mutual friends, such as my dad was really good friends Greg Tate co-founder of the Black Rock Coalition (which Vernon is also the co-founder of), My dad and Greg were in high school together and saw Miles Davis live. I also mentioned, I’m close with Boston Fielder of Muthawit and the popular UrbAlt festival.

There was so much I wanted to say to everyone. But, out of consideration to the other fans that were waiting in line, I kept it brief. I said what I wanted to say and the missus and I headed back home. Bottom line, Living Colour restored my faith in music.