I wanted to love Cee Lo Green’s performance at Mahaffey Theater last Wednesday night because I love his work, both as a solo artist and as part of Gnarls Barkley and Goodie Mob. ’Course, greatness in the studio does not always equate to greatness in a live setting and though I was rooting for him, I left the show feeling mildly dissatisfied. [Text by Leilani, photos by Tracy.]
This was my second time catching Cee Lo on tour in support of 2010’s The Lady Killer; the first was at Hangout Music Fest in May, where he showed up about 40 minutes late and staged an abbreviated set of hits with his all-female backing band, ‘Scarlet Fever,’ that was highly entertaining, albeit rather short for me to really judge his showmanship skills.
For this concert, Scarlet Fever was notably absent. Instead, Cee Lo was joined by a pair of average support vocalists and a lineup of hired hands whose identities I’ve failed to determine even after much research, and whose instrumental backing came off as rudimentary, like they only learned the tracks a few weeks ago and had minimal experience playing them live.
Cee Lo's disconnect from and lack of chemistry with his band was only one of the issues I experienced that night. The muddy sound, the crowd’s seeming lackluster response to the Lady Killer tracks (which prompted Cee Lo to ask if anyone actually knew the album), and Cee Lo’s generally ill-at-ease attitude didn’t help.
To make matters more annoying, neither of the two opening acts possessed the sort of high-caliber warm-up capabilities you’d expect from a Cee Lo show. Pentatonix, winners of NBC’s a capella reality competition show, The Sing Off, flaunted their instrument-free skills, but their selection of pop music covers left much to be desired, while Alex Young appeared to be lip-syncing through her own short set of original dance-pop trash, her chutzpah and back-up dancers not enough to distract from her lack of natural talent. (I got a text from a friend who was also at the show that read “I may be watching/hearing the most horrible thing ever” while my date, Julie G., called Young ‘an over-the-top Kylie Minogue-Natalie Portman she-beast.’)
Still, there was definite entertainment to be had. With the bright hot stage lights shining in his eyes and glinting off the sweat that poured down his face from note one, Cee Lo busted through an hour-long set with his strong soulful vocals, opening with a cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” (a nice nod to an artist who celebrates his 65th birthday this weekend), and following with cuts off The Lady Killer, a few tracks from Gnarls Barkley’s first album, St. Elsewhere, and sandwiched in the middle, a four-song performance of Goodie Mob songs complete with surprise guest appearances by Cee Lo's GM rap-mates, Khujo, T-Mo and Big Gipp. The place went wild, the crowd surged to its feet, and the first real sing-a-longs of the night commenced during this old school rewind, most definitely the highlight of the night.
Goodie Mob officially confirmed their long-rumored reunion last year, and are apparently working on their first new album with Cee Lo since 1999’s World Party. The crowd’s enthusiastic response to the foursome's mini-reunion on Wednesday could be an indication of just how much the group has been missed in the hip hop world and where Cee Lo should be focusing his attentions right now. Here's hoping that the next time he hits town, he's on the official Goodie Mob reunion tour.
SETLIST
Lady Killer Theme intro
Let’s Dance (David Bowie cover)
Bright Lights Bigger City
Gone Daddy Gone (Violent Femmes cover)
It's OK
I Want You
Goodie Mob interlude with Khujo, T-Mo and Big Gipp showing up on stage:
Soul Food
Get Rich To This
Cell Therapy
They Don't Dance No Mo
Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)
Fuck You
E.
Smiley Faces (Gnarls Barkley)
This article appears in Dec 22-28, 2011.