By Josh Herwitt //
Galactic featuring Jelly Joseph with Joy Guerilla //
The Bellwether – Los Angeles
August 15th, 2024 //
If I told you that it has been 30 years since Galactic formed after childhood friends Jeff Raines and Robert Mercurio moved to New Orleans for college, you might not believe it … or want to believe it.
But the truth is, the fivesome has been going strong ever since it all came together in 1994 with Raines (guitar) and Mercurio (bass) leaving their hometown of Chevy Chase, Md., to attend Tulane University before eventually teaming up with Richard Vogel (Hammond organ), Stanton Moore (drums) and Ben Ellman (saxophone, harmonica).
The group’s affinity for local legends like The Meters, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Professor Longhair as well as the influence that they have played in Galactic’s music remains self-evident to this day, and despite rotating through a handful of singers over the years — whether it has been Cyril Neville, Living Colour’s Corey Glover, Maggie Koerner or Erica Falls — since the late Theryl “House Man” DeClouet’s departure in 2004, it has continued to tour relentlessly and put out new material consistently.
Their most recent studio effort, a six-track EP entitled Tchompitoulas that arrived at the beginning of 2023, features multiple vocalists, including Florida rapper Eric Biddines, Grammy-nominated Cuban singer-songwriter Cimafunk and NOLA’s own Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph.
Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph
Of course, Galactic have been incorporating a variety of voices ever since they ventured into hip-hop via their 2007 album From the Corner to the Block, which saw collaborations with Lyrics Born, Mr. Lif, Gift of Gab, Chali 2na, Boots Riley, Juvenile, Trombone Shorty and Lateef the Truthspeaker to name more than just a few.
The last few years, though, have given Joseph a chance to shine with the quintet since they released the single “Float Up” in 2020, and we quickly learned how powerful her delivery was within minutes of taking the stage last Thursday as Galactic brought the funk back to LA for the band’s first show at The Bellwether, which only opened a little more than a year ago now (read our venue review here) but has already established itself as one of the better music venues in a city with no shortage of them. Though we must say, it was cool to catch Galactic somewhere else besides at the El Rey Theatre — where we have covered them before (read our show review here) — or Fonda Theatre after both spaces owned and operated by Goldenvoice had become the band’s unofficial home for its annual visit to the City of Angels year after year.
While the night belonged to Joseph considering the charisma she exuded onstage for more than a hour and a half, Galactic made sure to also sprinkle in covers from heroes such as Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and Aretha Franklin in addition to guest appearances from Alex Wasily of Dumpstaphunk on trombone, Will Blades on organ and Shira Elias on vocals that kept the programming feeling fresh throughout and was certainly a nice surprise after San Diego native Karl Denson showed up the evening prior for their gig at the Belly Up in Solana Beach.
I have always loved the spirit and culture of New Orleans, and even though it had been several years since the last time I saw Galactic in the flesh, it always feels like I’m hanging out on Frenchmen Street again when I do. After all, the joy their music has brought to the lives of so many can’t be understated and is something we are still grateful for three decades later.
Setlist:
You Don’t Know
Making It Better
Domino
Cineramascope
Right On
Heart of Steel
Qualified (Dr. John cover)
Lickety Split (The Dirty Dozen Brass Band cover) (with Alex Wasily)
Clap Your Hands
Compared to What (Gene McDaniels cover)
Twitchie Feet (with Will Blades)
Lady Liberty
People
Yes We Can Can (Allen Toussaint cover) (with Shira Elias)
Dolla Diva
Encore:
Baker’s Dozen (with Alex Wasily)
Rock Steady (Aretha Franklin cover) (with Shira Elias)
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