Kung Fu brought their high-powered fusion-funk to Pearl Street Nov. 2. The evening began with a dud; the first opener Shantyman & the Speakeasies rolled through a sloppy, one-dimensional, half-hour set of funky jam rock. Their songs all sounded the same, filled with spastic, slap-happy bass lines, frenetic drumming and aimless guitar meanderings. The jams sounded like what you’d get if a bunch of uninspired Phish fans tried to start their own band. All three instrumentalists were talented, but were way too focused on their own noodling rather than listening to each other and building up a solid groove. The theme of their set seemed to be the louder we play, the fewer mistakes people will notice.
Luckily, the Alan Evans Trio relieved the ears of the audience with a much tighter set. Alan Evans is the drummer and co-founder of Soulive, who have been providing a soulful mix of jazz and funk to national audiences since 1999. His trio is a newer project that embraces the same spirit of Soulive, but with a more organ-heavy approach. The band combined James Brown-esque grooves with fluid guitar licks and roaring organ solos. The crowd seemed to perk up and get more involved in dancing and shaking as the trio rocked the stage for almost an hour.
Finally, Kung Fu took the stage around 11 p.m. The band blew the previous acts away with two provocative, energized, grooving hours of music. Their songs were dynamically rich and highly technical, and though they shifted in tempo and tone throughout the night, their tunes were rooted in funk music. The group is made up of incredible musicians on every instrument, but guitarist Tim Palmieri is without a doubt the heart and soul of the band. His fingers fly up and down the fret board with speedy precision and he plays at a level that rivals Trey Anastasio, the guitarist from Phish, in his hey-day. Though Palmieri values technicality where Anastasio prefers emotional playing, Palmieri is still one of the best guitarists in the jam world right now and seeing him perform is a necessity for anyone who considers themselves fans of the genre.
Throughout the show, it began to seem like Kung Fu was using their impressive musicianship to compensate for a lack of catchiness in their songs. That’s not to say the music wasn’t fun to listen to; their creative compositions are highly danceable and they just ooze ear-bending, liquid funk. While Kung Fu is impressive to watch, their songs are not the type to get stuck in your head. The energy of the live show is irreplaceable in a studio setting and they would fare better selling soundboard-quality live recordings instead of attempting to push their debut studio album.
The crowd was considerably small, especially considering that the concert was in the smaller clubroom as opposed to the larger, upstairs ballroom. Barely 100 people showed up, which was disappointing because Kung Fu often plays to much larger crowds.
Regardless, the audience was incredibly appreciative and responsive to the band’s playing; lots of dancing, cheering and squeezing to the front of the stage occurred. Members of all the bands wandered through the audience to watch their co-performers. It was an evening of deep music appreciation, and whether you want to bask in the technical proficiency of Palmieri or just gyrate to the funky rhythms, Kung Fu puts on a show worth seeing.
Ryan Kaplan can be reached at [email protected].
