Whenever you hear a girl scream, "Oh my gawd, YEAH!", well you know someone must be having a good time.
I am no funk aficionado. In fact, I know very little except for my few run-ins with the genre at various live music festivals and briefly exploring the styles of Sly and the Family Stone in my music theory classes back in college (very boring when you consider how electrifying the real thing is). So you will be enjoying a review from a funk newbie.
I don't think a single person had a bad time at Nectar Lounge Friday night. I walked in soon after Kissing Potion's set started, and was immediately a little bit entranced. The female lead vocalist, Joy Davenport, is a strong woman with a whole lot of addictive attitude. She led the rest of the Kissing Potion through a fun, rambunctious set, which included an excellent "Use Me" sample performed by brass player Mike "Moose" Barber, and the sultry "Chains of Love". Before performing the latter, Joy Davenport asked the audience if anyone had ever been wrapped in the "chains of love," and one eager reveler replied in the mic, "I am right now!" much to the glee of the audience. "Get on the Bus," an original Kissing Potion piece, written in response to the Obama victory, was fun and slightly inspirational, but just a little too corny, and was probably one of the weaker points in their set. Toward the end of their time onstage, Davenport gave props to Colin Johnson, the bringer of talent for Nectar Lounge who is apparently leaving Seattle shortly to pursue adventure elsewhere. Good luck Colin.
A DJ kept the vibe going until the nine-member Orgone hit the stage with a kick to the face, punch in the gut, release your hair and get down sound. If you were able to stay seated, or your feet remained planted during Orgone's energetic set, you were certainly a freak. The guys of Orgone are not only extremely polished musicians, but terribly fun to watch. I could not decide whether to watch the growling face of drummer Sean O'Shea, who looked determined to smash through his drumhead, or the smiling, wide-eyed cowboy trombonist Darren Cardoza, or the cool expressive smirks of guitarist Sergio Rios and bass player Ethan Phillips.
The male members of the group spoke very little, if any, not wanting to break the seamless flow of their set. The songs effortlessly melted into each other and people got more and more induced into the dance euphoria (please see opening sentence of this review). The mix of funk, afrobeat, soul and a few motown elements literally sent me into a trance-like groove. The jam session lasted a couple hours and it's hard to pick out a specific highlight, but "Its What You Do," with its silky smooth rhythms and smoky vocals, stood out to me. For some reason, it reminded me of Isaac Hayes and Shaft, but I am pretty sure that's not what they were aiming for.
And about those smoky vocals. Orgone was joined by Fanny Franklin for a third of their set. The extremely beautiful, sultry singer reminded me a little of Sade in both vocal quality and looks. Believe me, it was pretty much impossible to take a bad picture of her (please see above). When onstage, she took total control, even at one point, telling the girls in the audience to "be nice," having viewed some of the pushing brought on by a couple ladies having a little too much fun with a little too much alcohol in the middle of the dancefloor. They played nice after that. She added even more heat to a band that already was getting some of the people in the audience to their boiling point (again, please see opening sentence).
At approximately 1:22AM Orgone was signaled to end with two more songs and the crowd responded with a chorus of boos for a band who could've kept going all night. Fanny Franklin joined the group for the final two numbers and left the entire crowd wanting much, much more. For the record, this newbie has definitely become a little bit of an Orgone groupie.
Check out Orgone: http://www.myspace.com/orgonemusic.
