GOOD LIKE SAUCE: Concert Reviews

This page contains various concert reviews. If you have a review to be posted here, please e-mail me with your name, e-mail address or URL, and review. And remember to put when and where the show was! Thanks, and hope all your concert experiences were awesome (how could they not be??)! :)

Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, Providence RI
19 November 1997
by V. Love

On Wednesday, 19 November 1997, I attended the G. Love and Special Sauce show at Lupo's in Providence RI. The doors opened at eight, and the show started at nine thirty. I got there just after eight .... I've always been one to avoid being late at all times -- even to extremity! ;)

I went with a friend of mine, Jim, and we just hung out and talked to some people until about quarter after nine (according to his watch), when the opening band came out -- Grüvis Malt. I was told by a friend of mine (hi Amy!! :)) to keep an eye out for them, that they were wicked good. Well, I did, and she was right -- they rocked (the fact that they were from my state helped)!

During their set, they threw out two tee shirts -- and I ended up getting one. I was all smiles after that one -- I'm one of those people who just never wins anything .... I guess I can't say that anymore! Also, as they were leaving, they threw out some stickers .... got one of them as well. :)

I had made my way up towards the stage, and was right up near it.

After Grüvis Malt left, there was an intermission of about twenty minutes. Then, G. Love and Special Sauce ran to the stage. The crowd went wild!! Especially the girls ....

Overall, the show was a very good one. G. Love, however usually stuck to his spot on a stool near the microphone, often got up and walked around stage, leaning over into the crowd. At one point he threw his harmonica out into the audience .... it feel, and practically everyone in that area, my area, got on their hands and knees looking for it .... someone ended up getting it, eventually!

About three-quarters into it there was a short intermission, during which the audience was chanting "G. LOVE! G. LOVE!" over and over again ....

They soon came back out, and continued playing. They are very good stage performers, more than most bands I've seen whose music quality greatly declines when they play live. But not G. Love and Special Sauce's. Their live music adds a new twist to the original -- a fresher, louder, more upbeat pace. They also have great presence, really get into it, don't hold back all shy like others I know of ....

After the set, G. Love thanked everyone, Providence, Lupo's, and Grüvis Malt. Then they ran off the stage and into the sunset .... well, not really.

Then G. Love came running back out, tossing stickers into the air .... and left once again. A stage hand came out doing the same thing, with stickers as well as CDs. I got neither -- I didn't really try, considering that I have both! :)

I greatly enjoyed the show, and hope to attend another of theirs soon!!

The Roxy, New York City
21 November 1997
by Downtown

Doors opened at 7pm, and for some reason, my friends and I figured there was an opening band, and Mr Love would go on around 10-ish. We were wrong, and that caused us to miss more than half of the show. Oh well.

After the fact, we noticed that a 7:45pm start time is listed right on the ticket. The show was 16+, so I guess that's why they started so early. Also, after the show, it looked like the Roxy was setting up for a big dance night, which is most likely the main kind of functions for this venue.

We got there around 9:15 or so, and the band was already deep into their set. I can't provide a set list, because I only own the first album. I've seen them in concert at least 10 times, and I plan to get the other two albums very soon.

The first tune I remember hearing was a jam where G. Love was calling out sports figures names. Shawn Bradley, and all these others. I thought that was cool, and my friend said he was listing different names than what is on the album version.

Several guest rappers joined the band on stage. Then the set drew to a close, and they left the stage. I knew there would be an encore, but I was kinda hoping for a whole nother set, since I had only caught 4 or 5 songs. No second set, but the encore did not disappoint, it was great.

Before they came back on stage, I said to my friend that I'd like to hear This Ain't Living, probably my fav off the first album. Sure enough, I got it. The band came back on stage, along with a guest guitarist/rapper and a special horn section. (The guitar/rapper guy might be the same guy who does the rap on the album version of This Ain't Living, I'm not sure) Also on stage was a posse of rap guys, like 4 or 5 deep. I can't remember if they came out in the begining of the song, or if they bum-rushed the stage mid-song. G. Love announced who all these guests and horn players were, but I forgot their names. Anyway, This Ain't Living totally ripped! Real long and jammed out, with each horn player taking long solos, and each rap guy kicking a verse. G. Love also freestyled, you could tell his rhymes were off the top of the head. Real cool.

After This Ain't Living, they segued right into another song. A real uptempo song (I think the chorus was Trouble, Trouble Trouble or something like that) The whole encore was great, with lots of jamming and crowd participation.

The show ended at like 10pm. I felt a little jipped because I missed so much, but that's my own fault. The encore made it worth it for me. Good show, and The Roxy was a pretty cool venue to see G. Love. Two long bars on each side, with a huge dance floor in the middle. The place was packed, too.

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