After seeing Alabama Shakes nearly bring the Doug Fir to the ground earlier this year, the thought of witnessing the festival side of them was almost too much to take. They had staged a monumental kind of show that night in Portland, introducing us to their R&B-based punk blues, and leaving us speechless with a cover of Zeppelin’s “How Many More Times,” in their encore.
Since then, they’ve continued to rightfully attract all kinds of attention from fans and music critics. And when hearing the opening guitar-pickin’ riff to “Hold On” at the beginning of their Sasquatch! set, followed by Brittany Howard’s waveringly beautiful vocals, it was clear their talent had done nothing but multiply.
There were times the group sounded a bit more doo-wop than before, and it truly complemented the rest of their set. Especially when Howard detoured from that more reserved demeanor and launched herself into the sort of Aretha/Janis/Tina persona she carries better than any other.
Probably the best of the group this day came in their unbelievable delivery of “You Ain’t Alone.” Slowing to a crawl, the band built up each verse to explosive proportions, with Howard doing the same in her rolled out vocals. The withheld power of the song didn’t really come tumbling out ‘til the end, as Howard pleaded with the crowd to “let me be your ticket home.” It was jaw-dropping good.
Alabama Shakes is obviously a collection of talented musicians, but with her attitude, style and vocal abilities, Howard was clearly born to do this. Here’s hoping we’ve got this band around for some time to come.
