Galactic – Revolution (1/22/12)

Naw’leans came to Revolution in Ft. Lauderdale this past weekend in the form of Galactic along with their friends Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, and Bobby Lee Rodgers.  All these guys were fresh off the boat from Jam Cruise 10 and this show was billed as a post-cruise party.  It only happens a coupla times a year, but here was one to really get excited about!

Everyone’s seen enough shows to know how things work with opening acts.  It’s usually the case that the warm-up acts can’t hold a flame to the main offering… but every once in a rare while you get surprised by the quality of the opening talent.  This was certainly the case this fine Saturday night.

Bobby Lee Rodgers and his rhythm section started things off with some jammin’ Delta blues.  I don’t know (nor do I understand) how the Black Keys are so hot right now and at the same time most people (including myself) have never even heard of Bobby Lee Rodgers’ band.  Here’s the REAL deal: a down-and-dirty, rollicking, white-boy blues band straight outta the swamp.  The finest complement I can give Mr. Rodgers’ set is to tell you that after they left the stage everyone on the floor in my general area prefaced their wide-eyed, shocked comments by asking, “WHO was that?”  Finally we all found someone who knew: THAT was Bobby Lee Rodgers!

Next up came Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.  Shorty (who really isn’t all that short) came out with a trumpet in one hand and a trombone in the other! Ha! He then proceeded to take us through a long, extremely high-energy set of Orleans funk stew, finely-peppered with a dose of jazz and R&B for flavor.  These guys blew their brass (including two saxophones) for over an hour and had EVERYONE in the house dancing.  They never let up! And after dancing for soooo long I was a little worried I wouldn’t have enough energy left for Galactic. (Time to fortify & re-up!)… Yeah, Shorty’s set was that good!  I wouldn’t have wanted to follow that act!

Of course, finally we got Galactic, who have been rounding out their sound lately with vocals from Corey Glover (of Living Color-fame) and trombone by Corey Henry of the Rebirth Brass Band.  Here we go again… the people were mad for these guys and ALL of Revolution was once more up and dancing!  By this point your reviewer’s recall of details becomes a little fuzzy, but the vibe coming off the stage was tangible… these guys were havin’ fun, and its that kinda boisterous on-stage interplay that most often effectively delivers the kind of music I wanna hear.  I do remember lots of lights flashin’, and as viewed from a privileged point above, saw a sea of happy people swellin’ and rollin’ and movin’ and shakin’ to the groove.  We were treated to a Led Zeppelin cover and a guest spot by Trombone Shorty (and perhaps others too… I don’t quite know.)  In apology to my readers, if you’re interested in more details you’ll have to ask someone else, as your author’s dedication to reviewer-responsibility by this point had failed.  Let’s just say, you shoulda been there!

In the end, this was a show for the ages… one for the books for most anyone in attendance and simply another in a long list of fine shows for Revolution, one of South Florida’s classic venues.  In fact, it’s too bad I don’t have the space here to let you in on some of the shenanigans that went on this night, but that’s another story, for another time!

LINKS:  Galactic,  Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue,  Bobby Lee Rodgers,  Revolution (Fort Lauderdale)

WORDS:  Yetti Bedwetter

PHOTOS:  Steven Imas