Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and his band Orleans Ave. brought their brand of New Orleans music, a mixture of funk, R&B, rock and hip hop, to The Palace Theatre on Friday night. They are out on the road supporting their recent release Parking Lot Symphony.
High energy LA R&B rockers Vintage Trouble started the night off with a bang. Right out of the gate front man Ty Taylor exploded like a James Brown / Robert Plant supernova on the Palace stage. Singing from the depths of his soul while dirty dancing with the mic stand, the scorching opening songs were so high energy it was hard to believe that Taylor could continue with such intensity. And while they did slow down slightly for a few songs, guitarist Nalle Colt still laid down leads that smoldered like molten glass. The seething slide work that opened “Run Like A River” rivals that of Derek Trucks. All of the jumping and crowdsurfing couldn’t overshadow the music, which at its core was the heart of the show. The rhythm section of Rick Dill on bass and Richard Danielson on drums created a massive wall of sound the could be felt like sonic punches to the chest even in the back of the Palace. These guys burned more energy in their set than all of the SUV’s on a Forth Of July weekend.
Setlist: Blues Hand Me Down – Doin’ What You Are Doin’ – Gracefully – Can’t Stop Rolling – Crystal Clarity – Run Like The River- Knock Me Out
Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue came on right around 9:45 and wasted no time raising the roof on the Palace. They opened with a heavy metal like version of “Backatown” off the 2010 album of the same name. Andrews childhood friend and bassist Mike Bailey’s baselines rumbled like thunder through the theatre. He has been on stage since age 4, and it showed as Troy had the crowd eating out of his hand. And while he is a master of brass instruments, his vocals were on fleek for his version of Allen Toussaint’s “On Your Way Down”. Toussaint wasn’t the only New Orleanian that Troy gave a nod to. He also did a smoking version of Ernie K Doe’s “Here Come The Girls”. The band brought a little bit of Mardi Gras to St. Paul as the they second lined around the stage during “Where It At”. This was happy music, and you couldn’t pry the smiles off the faces of the crowd. The band delivered a scorching 90 plus minuet set on Saturday night. New Orleans was featured heavily throughout the night, especially when the band thundered through The Meters “It Ain’t No Use” and followed that up with a hip hop infused “Hurricane Season”.
New Orleans is a city full of musical stars, and it takes a lot to stand out. Trombone Shorty proved Friday night that he is one of the most brilliant and dynamic musicians to emerge from the Big Easy.
Setlist: Backatown – The Craziest Things – On Your Way Down – Here Comes The Girls – One Night Only – Tripped Out Slim – Where It At – Lose My Mind – Then There Was You – It Ain’t No Use – Hurricane Season – Do To Me
