Lollapalooza – Showbams

The Revivalists live up to their new album ‘Pour It Out Into the Night’ at LA’s Greek Theatre while on tour with Band of Horses

The Revivalists

By Josh Herwitt //

The Revivalists & Band of Horses with The Heavy Heavy //
Greek Theatre – Los Angeles
September 10th, 2023 //

It was only a couple of weeks ago when we mentioned that a great co-headline bill on a warm summer evening in Southern California can be a fun and unique way to experience live music. Well, it wouldn’t be very long before our next opportunity arrived in my inbox.

My Morning Jacket and Fleet Foxes at the Hollywood Bowl (read our show review here) was one pairing this year that we had circled on our calendar, but there have been several others worth catching of late, including The Revivalists and Band of Horses as they proved at LA’s Greek Theatre on a Sunday night.

Hot off the release of a fifth studio album, The Revivalists came into town primed to make memories with their Pour It Out Into the Night material for the mostly capacity crowd that greeted the octet comprised of David Shaw (lead vocals, guitar), Zack Feinberg (guitar), Ed Williams (pedal steel guitar), Rob Ingraham (saxophone), Andrew Campanelli (drums, percussion), Paulet “PJ” Howard (drums, percussion), George Gekas (bass) and Michael Girardot (keyboards, trumpet).

Band of Horses

The 12-track Pour It Out Into the Night dropped in June, and since then The Revivalists have been filling venues — whether it’s the Greek or Red Rocks (read our First Times coverage here) — and performing at major U.S. music festivals such as Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. A solid chunk of the new LP has been featured throughout the New Orleans group’s live show, representing almost half of its gig in LA, as well-executed covers of Radiohead’s “High and Dry” from The Bends plus Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 1980 hit “Refugee” punctuated a two-encore performance.

As interested as I was to hear each co-headliner, it was a little surprising to learn that The Revivalists were allotted more time than BoH. I expected that The Revivalists would go last and close things out, primarily because they were listed at the top of the tour’s poster, but BoH have been around longer and have higher metrics across most social media channels as well as music streaming services.

None of that, however, seemed to bother BoH leader Ben Bridwell, who appeared to be in fine spirits when he and his four henchmen — Creighton Barrett (drums, percussion), Ryan Monroe (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals), Matt Gentling (bass, backing vocals) and the band’s most recent addition Brett Nash (guitar, backing vocals), who replaced Ian MacDougall at the start of last year — walked onstage around 7:15 p.m. to a roaring applause from the mixed-aged audience, most of which had filed into its seats by the time The Heavy Heavy had wrapped up their 30-minute opening set.

The Revivalists

Being the project’s only continuous member, Bridwell has maintained a sound and vibe for BoH that’s uniquely his. It’s not just Southern rock or indie rock or folk rock — it’s all three thrown into a blender. For me, there is something about his voice that has always captured my attention since the Grammy nominees’ debut full-length Everything All the Time. It’s what helped separate themselves during their early days in Seattle amid a competitive scene that only continues to grow with each passing day as more new indie-folk acts emerge.

Now several records later, BoH are sitting on their sixth entitled Things Are Great that came out more than 18 months ago via BMG and marked their longest gap between releases after Why Are You OK landed in 2016 on Interscope (BoH have signed to several labels over the years). Bridwell has had to account for numerous lineup changes along the way, yet he still knows how to keep things exciting for fans by switching up the setlist regularly and working in a cover, whether it’s INXS, Brooks & Dunn or even The Stooges. This was only the fourth time in 2023, for instance, that “Our Swords” was played, which sees Bridwell swap his guitar for a bass on the deep cut and croon about stepping on toes in a purportedly metaphorical sense.

By the time The Revivalists unleashed their chart-topping single “Wish I Knew You” as we neared the finish line, there was no doubt that packaging them together with BoH on the same tour was a strong move. I have enjoyed ruminating about and discussing which artists or bands should share the stage, and although this wasn’t one that specifically came to mind, it assuredly worked. Was it a total match made in musical heaven? Probably not. Would Trombone Shorty have made more sense to pair with The Revivalists considering his ties to the Big Easy? Maybe so, but any reason to spend a few hours hanging out at the Greek, especially with two bands of this caliber, is a good enough one for me.

THE REVIVALISTS

Setlist:
Good Old Days
Don’t Look Back
The Long Con
It Was a Sin
Down in the Dirt
Catching Fireflies
Soulfight
Otherside of Paradise
All My Friends
How We Move
Pour It Out Into the Night
High and Dry (Radiohead cover)
You and I
Celebration

Encore #1:
Only You
Wish I Knew You
Kid (with The Heavy Heavy)

Encore #2:
Refugee (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)

BAND OF HORSES

Setlist:
Is There a Ghost
The Great Salt Lake
Hag
Crutch
Laredo
Lights
Never Tear Us Apart (INXS cover)
Casual Party
Warning Signs
No One’s Gonna Love You
Our Swords
Ode to LRC
The Funeral
The General Specific

THE HEAVY HEAVY

Setlist:
Man of the Hills
Go Down River
All My Dreams
Cherry
Dirt
One of a Kind
Miles and Miles

After 16 years, Smokin Grooves Fest makes its long-awaited return & blazes a new trail in Long Beach

Anderson .Paak of NxWorries

Photos by Joseph Gray & Natalie Somekh // Written by Joseph Gray //

Smokin Grooves Fest //
The Queen Mary – Long Beach, CA
June 16th, 2018 //

We are in the heart of festival season. This is a time of the year for music lovers that’s often synonymous with multiple days of unforgiving heat, dusty campgrounds and some young adults who are readily anxious for a mosh pit. The long food-truck lines and heart-shaped sunglasses, polka dots, ripped denim and tie-dyed garments that have become staples at a large majority of music festivals — particularly during the summer months — were present, but Smokin Grooves Fest offered a welcome alternative. And based on its history, Southern California concert promoter Goldenvoice wouldn’t have had it any other way.

For one day only, a sold-out crew enjoyed moderate temperatures at the overcast waterfront adjacent to the historic Queen Mary in Long Beach for Smokin Grooves’ long-awaited return. The event, which last took place 16 years ago, pushed hip-hop, R&B and soul to the forefront of popular music at the time by booking The Fugees, A Tribe Called Quest, Cypress Hill and a whole lot more when Lollapalooza and other rock-focused festivals weren’t showing them the same kind of love.

The crowd, relaxed with a peaceful aura but also energized, mirrored much of the lineup, which showcased veterans such as Erykah Badu, The Roots and Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def) among buzzing newcomers like H.E.R., Smino, THEY. and Arin Ray across the 38-act bill.

I fall somewhere in the middle between those two age groups, so it was fitting that the uber-talented rapper/singer/drummer Anderson .Paak had just walked onto the “Free Your Mind” main stage when I showed up. .Paak, 32, wore a smile as expressive as his music, packaged with a bright nautical-themed ensemble. He effortlessly impressed with standouts “Suede”, “Another Time” and “What More Can I Say” off Yes Lawd!, his 2016 LP with Los Angeles hip-hop producer Knxwledge as part of their collaborative project NxWorries (pronounced “No Worries”). The duo’s set would eventually culminate in a playful dance-off between women, which fans showed their appreciation for before .Paak and Knxwledge said their goodbyes.

Many attendees went back and forth from the main stage to the two other aptly named stages — “Smokin'” and “Groovin'” — via an elevated overpass, where we overheard several praising the Brooklyn troop Phony Ppl for their soulfully funky grooves.

Miguel

However, anticipation for The Roots kept me at the main stage. It proved to be a wise decision, as their nearly hour-long performance reminded me why the Grammy-winning band is still so revered after more than three decades. Black Thought got the crowd riled up with a 10-minute barrage of lyrical proficiency that so many have come to know as his “Hot 97 Freestyle” after it hit the internet in December and quickly went viral, while his bandmates exuberantly jumped with sousaphones and guitars during “You Got Me” and a number of other hits. But providing a jolt like he only can, the one and only Busta Rhymes showed up for a quick-but-memorable performance of “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” and “Pass the Courvoisier, Part II”.

The concert, nevertheless, was not without its faults, as some complained about the sound quality during various times, but neglecting hometown artists certainly wasn’t one of them.

Not long after the buzz around Thundercat’s bass-guitar skills subsided, fellow LA-area acts Jhené Aiko and Miguel were greeted with admiration. Aiko, for one, entertained fans behind flowers, acoustics and enchanting vocals with occasional curse words. Miguel, who proudly reminded us that he was from nearby San Pedro and Inglewood, kept the momentum, along with his fringed microphone stand, moving by performing several crowd-pleasers like “How Many Drinks?”, “Sure Thing” and “Come Through and Chill”, among others.

The event’s headliner was Erykah Badu, who performed during the tour’s second edition in 1997 and looked like she hasn’t missed a beat since. Playing a drum machine between songs while weaving some classic hip-hop instrumentals — one of which was Mobb Deep’s “Shook (Part II)” — into her set, the neo-soul queen dazzled with her seductive, incredible voice and responsive wit for an hour-long class on “How to Deliver a Full-on Show.”

Several journalists and photographers, myself included, mentioned at various times the need to leave early to avoid the traffic on the way. But Badu and others made liars out of us, and we couldn’t have been happier in the end.