G Love and Special Sauce

This was a show that I put on the calendar a couple of months ago. I have been a fan of G Love since high school when he hit it big with "My Baby's Got Sauce". I've always loved his unique blend of hip-hop, folk, and blues. I like to see an artist who has a sound that could be compared to few other artists i.e. the Beastie Boys or The Mars Volta. True pioneers inspire me.

I guess I just wasn't too interested in seeing the opening band, "Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad". Call it judging a book by the cover but even after the rousing endorsement a friend gave them, I still was more interested in 2 dollar High Lifes and watching the Predators win in a shootout at the Gold Rush. They might have been great but that shootout against the Flyers was epic.

I finally crossed the street and made it to the Exit In. Within 5 minutes I had paid the cover, got a beer, found a great spot in the balcony, and the show started. They sauntered onto the stage and Timo Shanko started the bass line of the smooth hit "Blues Music". The vocals were a little too soft, which was okay because the guy next to me knew all the words and had no problem belting them out for all to hear. The first few songs in the set were similar to this one, slow and groovy but classic G Love. One song featured a bass solo from Shanko on the stand up. Boy he was really tearin' it up on that thing. He got all hunched over and tense like we use to do when playing the Nintendo power pad. As the show went on, the energy level rose, enough even to get Mr. Love to stand up out of his chair to play. G's Philly drawl and delivery has always been his trademark feature, as well as his chair sitting. It's a mix between rapping, singing, and wicca-wicca turntable noises. By the time they got to "Baby's Got Sauce", the crowd was amped and the band was rolling. They kept this up until the end of the show, mostly due to some G-styling, and great drumming from the House Man. The encore started with a couple of acoustic songs and went right back into the Special Sauce storm. The night ended with an extended version of my favorite one, "Cold Beverage". The hands were in the air, the people just didn't care, and a beautiful friend popped up with a shot of Irish Whiskey and a PBR. Not a bad way to end a great night.