New Orleans funksters Galactic made the boldest move of their decade-plus career with last year's From the Corner to the Block. The disc spotlights acclaimed underground rappers on the majority of tracks, consigning the ace musicians to the status of backing players. Galactic brought two of these MCs, Mr. Lif and Boots Riley (of The Coup), to the stage with them Saturday at Jannus Landing, and audience members witnessed a dynamic mash-up of styles resulting in a show more consistently engaging than any of Galactic's recent performances at the St. Pete courtyard.
After the 2004 departure of vocalist Theryl deClouet, Galactic exclusively performed instrumentals. Their second-line stomps and serpentine grooves were often gripping, but tended to meander; the band's three-hour shows sometimes felt like endurance tests.
Not the case Saturday.
Galactic opened the show with a pair of taut instrumentals and then were joined by the dreads-and-glasses-sporting Mr. Lif. A consummate party-starter, he had the crowd chanting along with him to the refrain of "hip-hop." When it came to spitting verses, Lif's flow was hair-trigger rapid, riding over — rather than through — the music. While a bit jarring, Lif's vocals kept Galactic on target.
Riley's star turn came later in the show, and The Coup rapper sounded like he had been performing with Galactic for years. With his vocal delivery at one with the groove, Riley brought out the best in the band, with drummer Stanton Moore's precision stick work paving the way for thick, spot-on sax and keyboard flourishes. The MC's rhyming was supple but as forceful as a kick-drum blast when he challenged the crowd with socially conscious lines like "We like free speech/ But we like free clubs."
Lif and Riley both jumped back on stage before show's end. They took turns spitting over the finale, a searing cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song."
The Dresden Dolls made their Bay area debut last Thursday before a packed Tampa Theatre, delivering a spectacle of classic cabaret and heavy glam-rock that was enthralling from start to finish. There weren't any dull moments throughout the show — a feat rarely achieved by even the most acclaimed touring bands.
The Boston duo successfully wooed the young, lively (predominantly gay and lesbian) audience with dramatically performed originals focused on the savagery and absurdity of love, mixed with judiciously chosen covers.
Singer/keyboardist Amanda Palmer and drummer Brian Viglione took the stage at 9:30 sharp. They wore matching black military caps and trenchcoats reminiscent of the Weimar Republic, and opened the show with an appropriately bombastic rendition of "In the Flesh?" The first track off Pink Floyd's The Wall, it includes the line "Are there any queers in the theater tonight?" Palmer delivered it with a triumphant smile, and the audience cheered wildly. This set the tone for an evening that amounted to a joyous celebration of diversity, underscored by the many concertgoers who'd donned top hats and flowing dresses that recalled German fashion of the 1920s.
The Dolls performed songs from each of their three studio albums, punctuating the lyrics with exaggerated facial expressions and hand gestures. During the pain-soaked torch song "The Gardener," Palmer disappeared from the stage only to reappear on the balcony, singing as she strolled through the aisles. The duo's best-known tune, "Coin-Operated Boy," found Palmer illustrating the lyric by miming a marionette while the crowd sang along to every word. About an hour into the set, the bassist from opening band Two Ton Boa joined the duo. Palmer got behind the drums, and Viglione wielded an electric guitar and sang lead on The Beastie Boys anthem "Fight for Your Right (to Party!)." The crowd responded with euphoric yelps and dancing.
The Dolls dipped into the Cabaret songbook and offered a jubilant "Mein Herr" that elicited smiles from the crowd. The duo then fired off a ferocious cover of Black Sabbath's grim antiwar screed "War Pigs" to close the show. The two disparate numbers served as a potent finale and apt reminder of The Dolls' ability to incorporate wide-ranging styles into their distinctive punk-cabaret act.
This article appears in Jan 16-22, 2008.