Living Colour with Ill Fated Natives at Ardmore Music Hall 12/21/19
Photos: Paul Havelin
Funk Metal pioneers Living Colour gained their rise to fame in the late 80s with a Grammy win for Best Rock Performance in 1990 for Cult of Personality, cementing the band in music history as a fresh new face of edgy funk metal rock with every other flavor in between. We saw the original crew of Corey Glover, Vernon Reid, Doug Wimbish and Will Calhoun together on stage with a full catalog of music at their fingertips. Their latest work, their first in eight years, Shade(2017), delivers the progressive punk/funk rock sound the band has always had. Living Colour was joined by Philly's own hard hitting rock trio Ill fated Natives, who owned the stage for their set with copious amounts of energy. The crowd at Ardmore Music Hall was fueled up, ready, and waiting for the headliners of the night.
The appearance in front of a packed house at Ardmore Music Hall Saturday night closed out the band's performances for 2019 and proved the quartet still have it 35 years later. The sold-out night saw the likes of LC originals like Middle Man, Memories, Funny Vibe, Desperate People, and their other hit tune, Glamour Boys off of their 1988 break-out album Vivid, with a handful of songs played off their 1993 album 'Stain' including Ignorance Is Bliss, Postman, and Wall, and showcasing a few more songs from their 1990 album that continued to shake things up in the music world, titled Times Up, with the title song closing out the set. Covers sprinkled in were the Notorious B.I.G's Who Shot Ya, and Dawn Penn's gospel-turned-reggae hit, You Don't Love Me. One thing that has never changed with Living Colour are the always straight-up in your face lyrics from Glover, whose unmistakable soulful voice and unique stage presence reminded us all just who we were in front of Saturday night. This is a rock band...but listen and you will hear metal, punk, funk, ska, reggae, soul, gospel, electro and many other sounds mixed in a colorful stew.
Capping the night off was the long-awaited encore which saw the band decide to NOT leave the stage at the command of Glover. 30 years later, still hollering about the norms of society and the procedures of rock and roll, kept the band on stage for a slaying of the massively resonant Cult Of Personality, again showcasing Vernon Reid absolutely shredding up the guitar solo, as we knew he would. Reid's solo from the recorded version on Vivid reached Guitar World's top 100 guitar solos at #87. In 2010, Rolling Stone rated Reid at #66 out their 100 Best Guitarist's of all time. Watch him give a guitar lesson on the song intro here.
The appearance in front of a packed house at Ardmore Music Hall Saturday night closed out the band's performances for 2019 and proved the quartet still have it 35 years later. The sold-out night saw the likes of LC originals like Middle Man, Memories, Funny Vibe, Desperate People, and their other hit tune, Glamour Boys off of their 1988 break-out album Vivid, with a handful of songs played off their 1993 album 'Stain' including Ignorance Is Bliss, Postman, and Wall, and showcasing a few more songs from their 1990 album that continued to shake things up in the music world, titled Times Up, with the title song closing out the set. Covers sprinkled in were the Notorious B.I.G's Who Shot Ya, and Dawn Penn's gospel-turned-reggae hit, You Don't Love Me. One thing that has never changed with Living Colour are the always straight-up in your face lyrics from Glover, whose unmistakable soulful voice and unique stage presence reminded us all just who we were in front of Saturday night. This is a rock band...but listen and you will hear metal, punk, funk, ska, reggae, soul, gospel, electro and many other sounds mixed in a colorful stew.
Capping the night off was the long-awaited encore which saw the band decide to NOT leave the stage at the command of Glover. 30 years later, still hollering about the norms of society and the procedures of rock and roll, kept the band on stage for a slaying of the massively resonant Cult Of Personality, again showcasing Vernon Reid absolutely shredding up the guitar solo, as we knew he would. Reid's solo from the recorded version on Vivid reached Guitar World's top 100 guitar solos at #87. In 2010, Rolling Stone rated Reid at #66 out their 100 Best Guitarist's of all time. Watch him give a guitar lesson on the song intro here.
Watch the video replay of Living Colour with Ill Fated Natives at Ardmore Music Hall compliments of Nugs.net
Ill Fated Natives
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