Me’shell performs at Trash Bar

Oh snap! I realized I forgot to tell you about Me’shell Ndegeocello’s show last month at Apache Cafe….

The 2-second summary? The show was cool, but not as cool as I had hoped.

My friend and I went to the Friday night show. Expecting a large turnout and knowing that the venue was a standing, open-floor setup, we arrived right around 9p. There was a decent-sized crowd already gathered, but hardly enough to fill even a small venue like Apache. DJ Mafioso was doing his turntable wizardry, effortlessly moving from samba-inspired beats, to Fela, and on to some old school A Tribe Called Quest tracks. Something about the non-existent reaction from the crowd (except for when Mafioso played Jay-Z’s Flashy Lights), and the way everyone clung self-consciously to the already-crowded bar let me know that these weren’t the usual Apache scenesters or diehard music-heads.

Me’shell was supposed to come on at 10p, but I don’t think she took the stage until after 10:30. Not a big deal, but after standing around for an hour and a half, I was very ready to see the lady do her thang. Strangely enough, most of the songs performed were ones I’d never heard before, and I don’t think they had even been released because she kept introducing them with, “This one is called…” followed with a brief explanation of what the song was about. She did perform a few cuts that I recognized from the latest album (The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams), namely Evolution and The Sloganeer:Paradise. Now, don’t get me wrong, the music - though largely unfamiliar - was TIGHT! Accompanying Me’shell was a 4-piece band made up of: Mark Kelley (bass), Jason Lindner (keys), Chris Bruce (guitar), and Charles Haynes (drums). Everybody on the stage absolutely rocked it (the drummer was just sick)! They had me doing the whole close my eyes and nod my head bit even on the songs I didn’t know.

My only real complaint (and a big one at that) about the show? Too damned short!! I think the whole show - including an encore after everyone left the stage - was maybe…45minutes? And I don’t think most of the crowd was really feeling it…there just wasn’t enough energy coming from the audience for even my liking.

But overall, it was a good (just not great) performance….just wish it had been more of an entree than an appetizer.

cheers,
k

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