When comes to town you never know exactly what you are going to get, but you know it will be funky. Touring in support of its newest album “Carnivale Electricos,” a work dedicated to the carnival spirit of the band’s home city of New Orleans, Galactic returned to Denver Friday night for the first of a two-night run at the dubbed “Paddy Gras.” The wishful combination of Mardi Gras and St. Patrick’s Day may have been a bit of a stretch (they fell about a month apart), but that surely didn’t stop the party.
Friday’s show opened with a brief set by the jam scene favorite DJ Logic before California-based ALO (currently signed to Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records) took to the stage. The band played an enjoyable set of catchy improvisational rock led by the tasteful lead vocals of keyboardist Zach Gill and the impressive guitar work of Dan Lebowitz. Lebowitz’s use of effects had his acoustic guitar sounding more like a strat and his high-energy presence seemed to drive the rest of the band.
After an intermission where DJ Logic entertained the crowd with old school funk hits like Stevie Wonder’s “Boogie on Reggae Woman” and Bill Withers’ “Use Me,” Galactic entered a stage full of colorful Mardi Gras decorations. And they would not leave it. Rather than playing a standard two sets, the band opted to play one marathon set for well over two hours.
While in recent years the band has drifted into the world of hip-hop by enlisting front men including Lyrics Born and Mystikal, it was great to see Friday’s show led by the soulful vocal talents of Corey Glover (of Living Colour).
Glover owned the night from the very start, and his passionate performance ignited an eager crowd. Over a variety of covers including the Pointer Sisters’ “Yes We Can Can” and Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” Glover effortlessly slipped in and out of falsetto vocals and coupled his rock star confidence with stellar vocal range.
A Galactic show is rarely complete without a Stanton Moore drum solo, and Friday was no exception. Moore’s pocket New Orleans lilt and unorthodox sticking patterns are always at the heart of the group’s unique sound, especially on new tracks like the sing-along “Hey Na Na.”
The band encored with Paul Simon’s catchy “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” before rocking into Living Colour’s grammy-winning 1990 hit “Cult of Personality.” During the latter, Glover protected his bandmates and empathically threw a drunken fan off the stage, then continued into the third verse to a sea of cheers.
Galactic did Denver right this time around. I’m sure they will be back with a new cast of guests soon enough.
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Nate Etter is a Boulder-based musician and a regular contributor to Reverb.
Joshua Elioseff is a Boulder based photographer of everything, a self-professed music junkie and regular contributor to Reverb. Check his photos out on Facebook or his .
