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Long-dormant Revolution blazes in Prince tribute concert

April Fillmore show manages to honor late legend without trying to replace him

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Revolution concert review, gay news, Washington Blade

A newly reunited Revolution pay homage to late mastermind Prince on a current tour. (Photo courtesy Fillmore Silver Spring)

The Revolution contributed to some of the most important recordings of the last four decades, appearing on Prince albums like “1999,” “Purple Rain,” “Around the World in a Day” and “Parade.” “Purple Rain” made them more famous than most backing bands.

The young, no-nonsense and blazingly talented guitarist Wendy Melvoin was one of the few who would stand up to Prince (in “Purple Rain” and in real life). Her partner Lisa Coleman is a gifted pianist, songwriter and vocalist, someone who helped bring dimensions of color to Prince’s music that otherwise would never has existed. Bobby Z., Mark Brown and Matt Fink all made important contributions as members of the Revolution.

Though disbanded by Prince amidst tension following a 1986 tour, they’ve now reunited and are touring. On April 27th, they played the Fillmore in Silver Spring.

Prince was a peerless performer. He was a dynamo like no other, dancing, singing and knocking out blistering guitar solos or wildly intricate piano with equal proficiency. Nobody will ever compare to Prince and the Revolution doesn’t try. In his live performances, Prince would often run through his hits in abbreviated versions or as part of medleys, and sometimes he would go off on long funk jams. He was not the type to choose a set list of 25 songs, play them in full and change it up from night to night to keep the audiences surprised. But the Revolution did exactly that. Their 22-song set covered all of the albums on which they were featured, focusing mainly on the hits but throwing in a couple deep cuts as well. Throughout the night the band paid respect to the music, treating it with reverence and bringing it to electrifying life before a wildly enthusiastic crowd.

Most of the lead vocals were handled by Melvoin and bassist Mark Brown, both of whom did their former boss justice. Vocalist Stokley Williams of Mint Condition guested throughout much of the show, generally performing lead on the more funk-oriented tracks like “Kiss,” “Erotic City,” “Uptown” and “Let’s Work.” Williams faced a difficult task. Obviously replacing Prince is impossible, and he didn’t try. He kept the audience singing along, dancing and leading the crowd in arm-waving and cheers, but he didn’t go too far over the top or showboat. He allowed the attention to be on the Revolution but still delivered the dynamic vocals the songs required.

The band opened with their iconic dialogue on the hard-edged funk/rock classic “Computer Blue,” and delivered scalding takes on “1999,” “D.M.S.R.,” “Controversy,” “Let’s Go Crazy” and “Delirious.” The more pop-oriented songs were all crowd-pleasers, and the whole room sang along with “Take Me With U,” “Paisley Park,” “Mountains” and “Raspberry Beret.”

“When Doves Cry” was absolutely blazing from start to finish, Melvoin nailing the opening snarls of guitar and the searing solo midway through, and keyboardist Matt Fink deftly managing those slithery lines of synth near the end. Most of the night was a party, but one somber moment came when the rest of the band left and Wendy Melvoin, after a short and emotional speech about Prince, and Lisa Coleman together performed “Sometimes it Snows in April,” alone on the stage. The room was silent as a seance, apart from the hushed voices singing along. It was a shared moment of connection, of loss and love. Wendy & Lisa recorded the original with Prince in one take, and his absence from that stage was felt to the bones by everyone in that room.

The main set of course closed with “Purple Rain” and it was hard not to feel Prince’s presence smiling down as Wendy nailed his famous solo and the crowd waved their arms in the air and sang along with his great epic. Then just like in the film, after the dramatic title song the band walks off stage, only to return to the sound of wild applause. Then, bam! Pure funk amped to the highest wattage with the one-two closing punch of “I Would Die 4 U” and “Baby I’m a Star,” which sent the crowd into a frenzy of dancing and the pure love and celebration of Prince and his music.

The Revolution
 
Fillmore, Silver Spring
 
April 27, 2017
 
SET LIST
 
1. Computer Blue
2. America
3. Mountains
4. Automatic
5. Take Me With U
6. Uptown
7. D.M.S.R.
8. Our Destiny/Roadhouse Garden
9. Raspberry Beret
10. Erotic City
11. Let’s Work
12. 1999
13. Paisley Park
14. Controversy
15. Sometimes it Snows in April
16. Let’s Go Crazy
17. Delirious
18. Kiss
19. When Doves Cry
20. Purple Rain
ENCORE
21. I Would Die 4 U
22. Baby I’m a Star

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Music & Concerts

Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule

Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

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Writer Gregg Shapiro with Jill Sobule in 2000. (Photo courtesy Shapiro)

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.

Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).

Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.

With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.

Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”

That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.

While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.

Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.

On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.

Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.

In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.

When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.

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Music & Concerts

Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’

Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

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Singer Tom Goss is back. (Photo by Dusti Cunningham)

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co. 

Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.

For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

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Music & Concerts

Kylie brings ‘Tension’ tour to D.C.

Performance on Tuesday at Capital One Arena

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Kylie Minogue visits D.C. on Tuesday.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.

The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”

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