Lettuce at the Fillmore Philly During Their ‘Elevate Tour’
LETTUCE and their openers GHOST-NOTE brought the PHUNK to the Fillmore Philly during their Elevate Tour, and they were also kind enough to (Let Us) witness their musical genius firsthand!
| Written by Sydney Jack & Jen Strogatz |
| Photos and Video by Jen Strogatz – [ js.com + ig ] |
(Let Us) Get PHUNKY, Philly!
On Friday night we witnessed the transformation of Philly’s lovely venue, the Fillmore, as it was turned into a safe haven for true fans of great music, courtesy of GHOST-NOTE and the night’s headliners, LETTUCE. Between epic drum battles and killer saxophone solos, both bands created an inviting space for their fans to let loose, get down to some mellow grooves and see GHOST-NOTE and LETTUCE bring the PHUNK to the Philly Fillmore!
Ghost-Note Sets it off Right
Ghost-Note opened up the show and they certainly set the tone for the night, playing songs like Swagism and Pace Maker, off of their newest album, Swagism. Robert “Sput” Searight, one-half of Ghost-Note‘s Grammy Award winning duo, knew just what to do to get the crowd warmed up for Lettuce. After getting on the mic a few times, Sput had the whole audience dancing and groovin’ along with their instrumentals.
Dallas-based band, Ghost-Note, is led by Sput Searight and Nate Werth, originally members of the Multi-Grammy award-winning jazz ensemble, Snarky Puppy. Ghost-Note will be opening for part of Lettuce’s US tour as they continue to promote their aforementioned album, Swagism (Click here to check them out).
Lettuce Releases New album, Elevate
Back in June, Lettuce released their newest album, Elevate (Click here to stream/ download ‘Elevate’), which was followed by a tour announcement back in September. Lettuce then hit the road in November for their Elevate Tour, in support of their 6th studio album!
On their website, the band describes themselves as a “genre-busting six-member funk/jazz/soul/jam/psychedelic/hip-hop/avant-garde/experimental collective” (www.lettucefunk.com). Lettuce has been around since its formation back in 1992 and by my account, that’s longer than some of you readers have even been alive!
Versatile, Genre-nonconforming and Highly Skilled Musicians
This insanely versatile and genre-nonconforming (did I just make up a new term?) band had the whole audience raging with songs like Trapezoid and Larimar, which were beautiful blends of genres and unexpected sounds and transitions, displaying the harmonious nature that these 6 guys have built amongst themselves over the course of their careers. Drummer Adam Deitch, delivered some memorable solos throughout the night, serving up some seriously mind-bending beats. These world-class, master musicians know what they are doing. They know exactly how to rock it on stage for a live audience, as well as how to instinctively play off of one another’s talents in a brilliant and improvised way, making everything they do on stage feel that much more unique to that particular show and audience.
It’s All About The Lighting, so…Let There Be Light!
Not only did Deitch crush it on the drums, he also gave Philly a shout out for being such an awesome city (duh), and if you know anything about Philadelphian’s, you know that we love our city! Their lighting production, led by Rob Burns, was also top-notch. Complete with an array of gorgeous colors and some ambient strobing, the lighting enhanced what was already an amazing show, and truly pushed it up past incredible. At one point, the band broke out one of their not-yet-released songs, really making the Philly audience feel special.
Lettuce: Loved by a Loyal Host of Fans, Not the Average Jam-Band Type of Scene Fan.
The Fillmore crowd was completely tuned in when Nigel Hall stepped out from behind the keyboard to take center stage, showing off his killer vocal skills as he had some fun next to Lettuce’s saxophonist, Ryan Zoidis. Lettuce fans (Lettuce-Heads?) couldn’t have asked for a better night to be able to welcome Lettuce to our fine city of Brotherly Love.
This show left us feeling a sense of appreciation for the two bands that played, and for the fans that come along with them. Lettuce and Ghost-Note fans were not rowdy, pushy, drugged-out, jam-bandy-type wooks (we’ve all seen them, you know what I’m talking about.) They were, in fact, quite the opposite. They were fun, music-loving adults, looking for a night off to immerse themselves into the sounds of groovy, funkadelic music amongst friends and their beloved bands. This is exactly what they were given.
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