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Concert Mon Jun 20 2011
Kings Go Forth with Ben L'Oncle Soul@Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park 6/20/11
It was a Downtown Sound soul night to remember with this excellent double bill between Kings Go Forth and opener Ben L'Oncle Soul. Both bands had major soul influences and nine piece ensembles live. Each also had charismatic and energetic frontmen that were able to inspire the crowd to get out of their seats and dance. With the perfect weather and the sweet sounds of soul wafting through the air, the glorious feeling of summer was again upon us.
Though there were many similar instruments played, with an especially spot on horn section in both bands, the main difference between the two bands had to do with the type of soul they were playing. Both began with a more classic jazz influenced longer intro as is often typical for this type of music. However, Ben L'Oncle Soul's music seemed more routed in an earlier soul with an almost doo wop feel to the choreography and outfits of the dancers especially. Hailing from France (and on their first US tour), Ben L'Oncle Soul sang some of the songs in French but with still a greater portion in English and fantastic dynamics for all songs amongst all of the band's members. They also played a couple covers including an incredibly unexpected cover of The White Stripes song "Seven Nation Army", which was quite transformed from the original. (You can listen to a more stripped down acoustic version of his cover here).
In contrast, Kings Go Forth from Milwaukee had a later sounding and more funk influenced sound in their music. Singer Jesse Davis AKA "Black Wolf" almost seemed supernaturally beamed from outer space and seemed adept at channeling everyone from Marvin Gaye to George Clinton. There were times he literally bowed down to various instruments and seemed to be drawing the soul-funk influence sound right from them as if removing a spirit and bringing it to the audience to witness.
