||||Mediocre Music Blog

Some of us here at MMB have been waiting for months to see Charles Bradley perform live. We thought he was going to open for Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings up in Burlington, VT when we just so happened to be there, but we got that one wrong. And we were holding out hope that he would appear with labelmates Budos Band when they come to Boston in May, but that’s naturally one of two dates that they will be without him. So when we realized that he and The Menahan Street Band would be performing with Lee Fields the night before the final LCD Soundsystem show (for which we were already traveling to NYC), we scooped up tickets and hoped for a great live performance. What we got was one of the more memorable concert experiences in years, a full 24 hours before the epic farewell at Madison Square Garden. Armed with a camera and photopass, we captured both leading men and their stellar band doing what they do best. Check out our photos below.

Charles Bradley & The Menahan Street Band

We’ve been somewhat obsessed with Charles Bradley’s debut record, No Time For Dreaming, since it’s release in January. It is easily one of my favorite albums of 2011 thus far. I had some reasonably high expectations for the live show, and I must say that both Charles and his band surpassed them all. Their set consisted of nearly all of the album, plus an excellent cover of Neil Young’s Heart of Gold, which was recently released on Daptone. Charles was both emotional and straight up adorable on stage; many times throughout the night I caught myself smiling at his unique musical situation (we mentioned he’s 62 years old and he is touring in support of his first album, right??). And as good as he was, I really cannot send enough praise to the musicians in the band that night. I was amazed to find that the guys who made up The Menahan Street Band all stayed on stage, and when Lee Fields came out they simply became The Expressions. Frankly put, they were consistently tight for the entire show. Some of these same guys are also in Sharon Jones’ Dap Kings, who we caught a few months back. They’re truly some of the hardest working and talented men in the business today. Cheers to the musicians of Daptone Records, I’ve got so much respect for you guys. One final note: If you have not yet seen Charles’ hit video, please drop everything that you’re doing and watch The World (Is Going Up In Flames) right now!

Now, onto the photos! Click on each to enlarge.

Lee Fields & The Expressions

I know Lee Fields has been around the music business much, much longer than Charles Bradley. But aside from his latest record, My World, I couldn’t say going into the show that I was all that familiar with the rest of his catalog. After his performance in Brooklyn, I plan on correcting that. He has a very different leading approach and personality than Mr. Bradley does, but it’s one that works equally as well. You can watch him perfoming his hit Ladies right here, and for you eagle eyed readers, keep an eye out for me in the front row taking these following pictures: