On Saturday night, Cautious Clay performed for us in Philly and he left us wanting more… and more… and more….
Within the first 60 seconds of absorbing the music of Cautious Clay at Union Transfer on Saturday night, we were thoroughly convinced that this dude will be the future state of rock and roll. Or is he the past-tense of R&B? Regardless, by the end of his 70-minute set, the answer became clear. He’s just the future. PERIOD.
[ Written by Andy Blackman Hurwitz ]
[ Photos by Jen Strogatz ]
As Mr. Clay (aka Jousha Karpeh) slowly sauntered onto the stage wearing blue cargo pants, a pair of navy Nike Airs and a cobalt “Mars Landing” t-shirt, the crowd- a fantastic mix of sexy people that came in all shapes, sizes, and colors- immediately fell under his spell as if they had been waiting for this moment all of their lives. From the first note that effortlessly arose deep from within Cautious Clay’s soul, the air was thick and dangerously exciting.
Anyone that bore witness to the Cautious Clay explosion on Saturday night will wax on (and wax off) about the sheer musicality of the man. The dude can sing like a hall-of-fame shape-shifter, seamlessly blending a vocal style that borrows from Frank Ocean, Ottis Redding, Mick Jagger and Thom Yorke. Nobody will argue that despite all of these flavorings, Cautious’ voice and delivery are somehow truly his own. And for the few haters that might have still been in the room after the first song, there were none left when he busted out his saxophone during song number two, or his flute in song three, taking his game to places that we were definitely not expecting.
The energy was fueled by Clay’s perfectly casted band which served up some thick bass lines, tight rhythms and experimental guitar rifts. Together, the trio created an air of spaciousness that was the perfect field for Mr. Clay’s intoxicating vocals and helped to present his songs in the way that they were intended to be heard — clearly. Despite his resonate melodiousness and composition, it’s his words that pack the most powerful punch as well as his songs being written with unflinching honesty and vividly poetic lyrics.
As well as he sings, he can play the shit of out his instruments and that should come as no surprise, as much of his Cleveland-based youth was spent on his classical training. Clay twists it all up – his past, his essence, his voice, the songs, the vibe, and when nobody’s looking, he sprinkles in some magic pixie dust and rolls it all up into a massive spliff that’s immediately and viscerally passed around the room. Then by the time that it is all burned down to a nubby and everyone in the room is filled with love, it’s clear that it was all part of Clay’s plan – to create an energy. It’s that energy that seems to transcend his music, reaching beyond the planets and perhaps landing on Mars, like his t-shirt predicted.
With bazillions of new artists and bands and scenes and memes, it’s really hard to rise about the clutter… But this guy, this band flipped a switch on in my soul that I had ALMOST forgotten about. This was the kind of music that makes you close your eyes and fly, and sway and sing and pray until you hear a sound that makes you open your eyes and stare through the haze of this dream that is real.
Damn. Homeboy can sing! His realness shined brightly through between songs with his “Oh fuck yea” responses to the crowd’s adulation and the sincere appreciation he shared for our lovely Philadelphia, as well as…we the people. Despite his massive stage presence, Cautious was low on theatrics. The stage was almost a zen-like production of powerful simplicity that included nothing more than 7 well placed floor lamps, 3 gorgeous throw rugs and deep dark lighting that glowed silver and purple.
By the time Clay worked us through his brilliant new recording “Table of Context,” plus a handful of tracks from his ground-breaking debut “Bloodtype,” it felt like my night (my life) was complete and I fired up his Soundcloud and let it play while I drove home, windows down, twisting and turning through Lincoln Drive, thinking about new dreams and old heartaches.
P.S. shout out to Remi Wolf who provided the most perfect warm-up set and lit up the room with her high energy cali-pop-funk-feel-good-dance-music that had the whole house rocking. Peep her debut recording “You’re a Dog.” The EP’s six songs chronicle the rocky relationships of her life until now.
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