Spare Room Be our guest…

Charles Bradley, guesting with Menahan Street Band, Prince Bandroom, Melbourne 22 Sept.

A couple of weeks back I travelled to Melbourne to see Menahan Street Band and special guest vocalist Charles Bradley. It was one of those gigs I’ll be talking about for years to come. A little risky perhaps; it involved shelling out for a trans-Tasman flight. But I suspected it would be worth it. And it was…

Menahan Street Band is a Daptone Records related project, led by ace guitarist Thomas “TNT” Brenneck and released on his label Dunham Records through Daptone. I’m a fan of their album Make the Road by Walking, It’s packed with gentle, soulful instrumentals with a range of influences, from old Chicago soul through to Latin.

Word was spreading through Auckland that Menahan Street Band was about to tour Australia and there was a high chance they would also come to Auckland. I kept an ear to the ground for that, but while browsing through the Daptone Records website I saw the tour poster and Australian dates — NZ was not included.

I probably would have shrugged that off (we miss out on lots in NZ), except for the fact that Charles Bradley was to appear as guest vocalist. I have a few of his singles and alongside Lee Fields he’s one of the grittiest old school soul singers around. So I went. The show itself, held at the Prince Bandroom in St. Kilda was cheap by anyone’s standards at $AUS40. I was well overdue to catch up with old friends and family in Melbourne, so the extra travel expense was justified.

To the gig — after local support band The Putbacks (“we’re the Putbacks and we’re puttin’ it back”) finished their set of New Orleans inspired funk we made our way to the front and planted ourselves right in front of the monitors. This far forward, we heard the band’s sound straight off the stage. Brenneck and bassist Nick Movshon led the band, which included Dap-Kings drummer Homer Steinweiss and trumpeter Dave Guy, as well as former Dap-Kings tenor saxophonist (now Truth and Soul records label co-owner and leader of El Michels Affair) Leon Michels. They went through cuts from their album, including the title track “Make the Road by Walking” and “Karina”, setting up a mid-paced, mellow groove that reminded me of Curtis Mayfield’s early stuff with the Impressions. That slow-cooking groove stayed consistent from song to song, with Dave Guy doing the odd introduction or thank-you.

And then in a big voice Dave Guy introduced, “The one and only Mr. Charles Bradley!” And on came Charles, wearing a cummerbund (according to James Brown “You cannot come up without a cummerbund”) and cruise ship bolero-cut dinner jacket, complete with a sequined sphinx on the back. He bowed his head and as he came back up sorrow filled his eyes. This was a soul singer getting into character. I’ve read that Brenneck enlisted Bradley because he wanted someone who could sound like James Brown, but that Bradley’s heart is in the Beg style, that he’s a big Otis Redding fan. And Beg he did, all the way through several of his singles including “Heartache and Pain”, “This World (Is Going Up in Flames)” and more — I’m guessing about eight numbers.

“I’ve been to the mountain top,” he cried at one point. He abused the mic stand like a wild animal toying with its prey, pushing it over into the crowd and snatching it back. He spun around and dropped to his knees at least a half dozen times, grabbing the mic on the way down so he could sing his heart out from the floor. And he nodded to James Brown, using the cape routine from “Please Please”, which was done with a sense of irony and fun — the keyboard player who put the cape on him was having trouble keeping a straight face.

Looking moved to tears at the audience’s response, he paid it back, saying “Without you people I am nothing, thank you so much.” We yelled back, “No Charles, Thank You.” And bless him, he leaned over and shook our hands. You know, like a real star would do. Then Charles Bradley and Menahan Street Band finished up by jamming on a groove to “Get Up Offa That Thing”.

It was one of those shows. If you ever get a chance to see Bradley or one of the many incarnations of the backing band — whether it’s the Menahan Street Band, Leon Michels’ El Michels Affair, The Expressions backing Lee Fields, The Olympians or the mighty Dap-Kings — don’t hesitate. This is the real thing.

Charles Bradley is planning to release a full length album in 2010, so keep your eyes (and ears) peeled.

Video: Charles Bradley & The Menahan Street Band “Heartache and Pain” (Live at The Leedervile Hotel Perth W.A. Australian Tour 2009)

Video: Menahan Street band “Karina” at The Leedervile Hotel