I had the immense pleasure of seeing Raphel Saadiq and his bad band of bad badasses last night in Detroit. I almost never get out to see national acts anymore (thanks Ticketmaster), let alone the people whose records I've gone deep with (Al Green didn't come by on this tour, Radiohead hasn't hit Detroit in over a decade, etc.) so this was a little bit of Christmas. And the venue couldn't have been better, a very intimate room with great acoustics, sold out and seated with fervent, mostly black, fans ready to get down.
The live Saadiq experience is the perfect compliment to his new record The Way I See It - minimal yet produced to the hilt. It translated Saadiq's spare take on the Motown sound with matching tailored skinny tie suits, choreographed Temptations-style dance moves, and a soulful band arrangement that featured horns and backup singers but was always anchored by the vintage pulse of a fender jazz bass, a small drum trap and two musicians with the taste and feel to really wield them.
Blogger nixed my post from the fall on Saadiq (brilliantly titled "Saadiq and You Shall Find" - what a waste of great word play!) because I had some mp3s up. This was before my road-to-Damascus moment, when I saw the light of streaming audio, and free music still shot out from this site like candy from a burst pinata.
I'm going to stream those tracks now and urge anybody who hasn't bought The Way I See It to quit messing around and do it. Even if you don't like the somewhat heavy-handed nostalgia of the singles "Sure Hope You Mean It" and "Love That Girl," you should look past it for the subtely modern heart of the rest of the record. And make sure to seek out the b-sides "Seven" and "Kelly Ray."
Raphael Saadiq - "100 Yard Dash"
Raphael Saadiq - "Sometimes"
Raphael Saadiq - "Staying In Love"
Raphael Saadiq - "Kelly Ray"
Raphael Saadiq - "Seven"
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