This post should’ve been up here days ago, but a busy Friday, then a trip to Portland, then a holiday … well, here we are.
You may have heard by now that the G. Love & Special Sauce show last Thursday at the Domino Room was ridiculously crowded. And if you haven’t heard by now: The G. Love & Special Sauce show last Thursday at the Domino Room was ridiculously crowded.
It’s worth saying twice.
About 30 minutes after I got in, I got a text from a friend: “Sold out. Can’t get in. Have fun!” At that moment, I turned and looked and saw the Domino Room’s floored packed to the back, shoulder-to-shoulder with people, and a tail of comers and goers running down the little hallway to the door.
G. Love orders his fans to put their hands in the air, and the fans comply. The green wristbands look cool. Photo by Ben.
Upstairs in the bar, where you can often stand with plenty of elbow room, it was four or five people deep against the front rail.
I think it was the biggest crowd I’ve seen at the Domino Room in 3-1/2 years. If not, it was definitely the biggest in the past couple.
So promoter Bret Grier of Random Presents made a good call moving the gig from the Midtown Ballroom (cap. ~900) to the Domino Room (cap. ~450). Even if he could’ve made a few more bucks in the big room, it likely would’ve felt empty, and there’s value in having a room that’s stuffed to the gills. Indeed, the place was buzzing. People were stoked.
The ones that could breathe, at least.
I had to get off the floor. It was getting too hot and sardine-y down there for me. I made my way out, despite the tough bros who puffed up their chests and wouldn’t let me by, and eventually found a good spot up high where I could watch G. Love do his thing.
G. Love plays a little old-school blues all by himself. Photo by Ben.
His thing isn’t necessarily my kind of thing, but he’s good at it. He started off on a chair, doing old-school blues and shouting out Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bukka White and Leadbelly while his bass man’s bass thudded a riff that sounded like Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side.”
Throughout the night, G. Love switched between blowing his harmonica, rapping, slapping hands with the front row and generally playing the urban-blues hipster that’s been his bread and butter for approaching two decades. I didn’t love it all, but I didn’t hate any of it, either. Everyone else seemed to eat it up.
I did think the show peaked during the encore, when G. Love went back to his solo act and then did a couple of poppy numbers — “Writing on the Walls” and “Rainbow” — before launching into “Who’s Got the Weed?” (Answer: “I got the weed.”) Despite the silly subject matter, the song’s loopy, robot-funk groove was a clear highlight.
G. Love shows off his harmonica skills. Photo by Ben.
After that, G. Love sang his two biggest hits. I stayed for the first one, “Baby’s Got Sauce,” and it was wobbly and lethargic enough to convince me I should’ve followed my instinct and left a song earlier. I reached the door out to Greenwood Avenue just as “Cold Beverages” reached its chorus, with the crowd shouting along with glee.
As I exited, I noted that the floor was still full of people from front to back, and that’s a great thing, no matter what room you’re talking about.
G. Love says adios to his adoring fans. Photo by Ben.
Tags: G. Love & Special Sauce
Now all I can do is sit here and try to think about when a full room is a bad thing ….
I got it! ER waiting room! Take THAT!