Friday, June 6, 2008

Buzz Universe + Henry Butler + The Lee Boys 6/5/08

After The Stone, I headed over to Sullivan Hall. Buzz Universe started at about 9:30 and they were pretty good. I enjoyed it even more than the Wash Square Park show a few weeks ago. I’m sure part of it had to do with the club atmosphere and also they may have been more selective in their material since they only had a 1 hour set. I had a lot of fun dancing and there was plenty of room for it. There were also enough people to make it fun.

Sometime during the show, I was the last to know that Warren was expected to sit in with The Lee Boys later. As time went on, it was clear it was going to be the 2nd set. Cool, I can run up to The Cutting Room with Juls and her friends for some Henry Butler. I also had someone who offered to text me from Sullivan once Warren was about to hit.

Henry was awesome! We walked in at about 10:35 and he was on the 3rd song of this solo piano gig. We walked right up front and found a great dancing spot right by the stage, and out of everyone’s way. I am so thankful for that. It was really great. I forgot what a good singer Henry is. He was really grooving at times. His mellow stuff was beautiful. I enjoyed his poetry. It was so much fun!

During our show, Juls got a text that the 1st set of The Lee Boys was over already. That was weird. Things were much speedier than typical Sullivan Hall shows. It couldn’t have been a whole hour. At 11:40 I got the message that they would be on soon. I waited 1 minute, and then realized I better get my butt down there because I don’t want to miss any of it. The others I was with are big Henry fans, and I must admit I didn’t want anything slowing me down. So, I quickly let them know I was leaving and I’d see them down there.

I saw that 5th Ave was closed for roadwork, so I went to 6th. As I was quickly walking down, I noticed that there were many people trying to get cabs and none were open. I kept a lookout for a cab, but I did a run/walk and ended up not getting a cab and made it there just about 2 minutes after they started! Yeah! I made it from 24th & 6th to Sullivan Hall in 15 minutes! That was kind of amazing, and well worth the effort.

Warren was up there, Marco was up there, these Lee Boys I’ve never seen before, and it was great. There was also good space, not too crowded. It was just really great. I danced in the back for a while and then eventually decided to get closer. At some points, there were only 2 or 3 people between me and the stage. It was just great. Oh, and after the 1st or 2nd song, Krasno came and sat in for quite a while. It was great. They played for maybe 45 minutes, give or take. Then it went back to just The Lee Boys with Marco, which was good because I was curious to see that. I wanted to know if I should make an effort to see them again. I will say it was fun, but it’s not something I would necessarily go out of my way to see again. I didn’t feel like I needed a cd. I was really digging the bass when Warren and Kraz were in earlier.

Before that show, Scott told me they were like the Campbell Brothers. Sure, I can see it described as that, but really, no way. I only saw 1 pedal steel up there and there’s something very special about The Campbell Brothers. They have some kind of soulful quality in the music that’s tough to come by.

I do want to emphasize they were pretty good. I just have tons of music to see all the time and I’m saying I don’t know if I’d sacrifice something else to see them. I certainly would see them again if it fit into my schedule, or, of course if they keep making friends like the company they were keeping last night.

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