I saw An Evening with Silk Sonic a whole, entire year and a half ago. I know. And I can virtually hear my bestie Mel tapping her cute little fingernails against her tabletop in anticipation of my literary lowdown, since she was my buddy at the 24K Magic shindig and wasn’t able to haul it all the way to Vegas for this silky, suit-n-chains-filled weekend in question. So let’s just clear away the clusterfuckery and get down to brass tacks, shall we?
This show was almost epic.
“Why just almost, Zaide?” I can hear you asking. “Aren’t you the gal who’d happily pay non-Monopoly money to hear Bruno Mars sing the menu at Olive Garden?” Yes, you are correct (though a sushi menu would be even cooler), but such long-term meaningful appreciation does come with the same level of discernment as my cuisine choice. Here’s the dish on my Silk Sonic experience, top ten style, since that’s what all the kids are doing these days:
1. The frontmen are ridiculous.
We’ve established that my expectations of this show were as high as these guys must’ve been when they wrote “Blast Off.” I’ve been a huge Bruno fan since I first experienced that specific “you’ve got to be kidding me” factor one gets when seeing him live, in my case in 2013, during his Moonshine Jungle concert in Mannheim, Germany. He’s sincerely and deeply talented on so many musical levels that it’s frankly annoying.
Anderson .Paak, on the other hand, was a total a-ha for me. Prior to “Leave the Door Open,” I didn’t really know much at all about him beyond the fact that he was a fantastic drummer, but oh boy did I learn! Drumming insanity aside, (and he really is insane), Paak is a natural showman. My favorite part, though? The rasp in his voice. It’s delicious. Tasty, tasty licks like the first line of the second verse of “Put on a Smile” are like dark chocolate with a shot of whisky. Smooth but real.
2. The album is an immaculately sexy jam.
Upon hearing “Leave the Door Open” and its retro-soul perfection for the first time, I said two things to myself: 1. This is a master class song in every way; and 2. An entire album of this stuff would be absolutely ridiculous in the very best way.
Then I heard what they did to the recorded version at the Grammys, iHeartRadio and BET awards, changing up the song every single time and improving upon the original every single time. Then I heard the complete grandeur of the full album, with the grit and range and rhythm of Anderson .Paak taking it well over the line, and I could barely contain myself. When they casually dropped their “oopsie we did another song” perfectly-crafted cover of Con Funk Shun’s “Love’s Train” the following Valentine’s Day, I was done. Show me this shit live, I said.
3. I wasn’t inside the fire.
Fast forward to the night of the show. It’s 8:30 pm, and I’m in my hugely overpriced seat in row F, drinking an $8 seltzer water with lime and chatting with the lovely lady next to me. She saw Bruno in Vegas several years ago, and said it was the best show she’d ever seen. Bonus—a like-minded human with whom to holler and sway, and with whom to exchange disbelieving glances in response to an insane breakdown or one of those ridiculous Bruno singing-from-the-depths-of-his-guts notes.
Alas! Just as we’re getting chummy, her hubby returns with the drinks and takes the seat between us. He’s a lovely guy too—a Vegas resident. “Can’t wait to see them do this live,” I say. “The album was fabulous, right?”
“Haven’t heard any of it yet,” he replies. “I know a couple of Bruno’s older songs, though, like ‘Grenade.’ Who’s the other guy with him?”
I didn’t have time to sigh in disappointment; the curtain came up on a full stage of swag-laden musicians with a familiar (if more slender than before), petite and curly-haired figure at the congas. Hi Bruno. Upon first view of the crew onstage, a group of women two rows behind me started to scream and clap, already on their feet like I was. Yes, ladies, let me join your fiesta, pretty please?
The first thing I realize as things get started is that I’m not inside the fire. Seat price and all, I’m pretty far stage-left—so far, in fact, that I’m not seeing much in front of me at all. Most of the action is happening on the other side of the stage. And just when the band does start to sashay over my way, he appears…
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Big Head Guy.
I’m 5’3” in flat shoes, so even in walkable wedge heels, when everyone is standing up in the floor area, sometimes it’s hard to see the stage. Big Head Guy arrived in the row in front of me right as the music began, and it’s safe to say that I couldn’t really see jack squat for about half the show.
Seat logistics and Big Head Guy weren’t what got me the most, though. What made me most crestfallen was the line of young women in ’70s garb I watched file in to stand directly in front of the stage, right there in the middle of everything. In the very middle of the fire. Women hand-picked to take those spots, maybe for conversational value or video footage purposes—who knows. And suddenly I’m somehow even further away.
4. Every song was better than the album version.
Enough kvetching. Let’s get to the show itself. As I imagined, every single song was better than the album version. Period. This was one element I knew from prior Bruno shows would be the case, because that’s the kind of performing ethic he’s built with, so I absolutely could not wait to see how these two planned on blowing out An Evening with Silk Sonic live. As I listened to “After Last Night” or “Put on a Smile” in the month before concert I found myself trying to imagine how they’d change it up, where they’d extend or add a breakdown. I was not disappointed. You could tell that Bruno, Andy and the whole band worked diligently to put together a performance that would wow us, and it did.
5. The choreography was epic.
I need to talk about the choreography for a second here. Just like we saw in their Soul Train reboot of “Fly as Me,” every song included dancing, it seemed, but not just dancing—tight, clever, and excellently executed moves that just lit the stage on fire. So, so good. And we know Bruno has some mad moves, but a shout out to Anderson .Paak here too for some skillful shaking of his tail feather.
6. Anderson .Paak’s wig deserves its own place in this list.
That is all.
7. The production was tight. Really tight. Too tight.
The whole show was full to bursting—suits, band, moves, huge vocals, comedy. But that’s where the almost comes in. Just like the album, the live version of each song had a whole lot going on. Even the ballad interlude (which was a crazy good mashup in and of itself) was done at a ten. Lots of sound, hubbub, production. It’s this quality that causes me to define An Evening with Silk Sonic as a revue. They came, they set fire to the stage with a polished, rehearsed program of material, and they left.
I figured they would incorporate this kind of bling into the show, but I didn’t expect it to comprise the whole event. I’d envisioned more playing versus performing—a concert more than a revue, akin to a piece I saw about a small-audience show the band did at the Peppermint Club prior to starting this residency.
In one shot from this early show, the band is on stage in street clothes. Bruno’s wearing a guitar and a work shirt with rolled-up sleeves, Andy next to him at the drums, and the full band in place behind them, working away. That night they were simply musicians jamming to their excellent material, no frills or formality, no posturing or posing for the front row ladies. Just Bruno’s cigarette burning in the headstock of his guitar while the band lit up the venue.
That’s what was missing for me in An Evening with Silk Sonic. Just imagine if they had devoted the first half of the show to their Rat Pack Soul program, taken a break, and come back on stage dressed down and ready to get gritty. That second act would have been a great place to put Paak’s “Come Down” with Bruno on drums (which was awesome), the extended version of “After Last Night” and maybe even a few other songs.
And covers! Bruno and the band do epic covers! If you haven’t checked out their impromptu mini-concert at the Barbershop in Vegas, do it. They saunter onstage (where another band is playing), and take turns covering everything from Green Day to the Outfield, Bruno holding onto his Solo cup the whole time. When they get to Roxanne, Bruno absolutely burning up the vocals and Paak taking over the drums, you see just how good these musicians are when they’re just simply dicking around.
Do THAT at the concert, guys. Make THAT your second act and we’ll remember such a genuine jam for ages.
8. It was too damned short.
I think the whole show clocked in at about 75 minutes, give or take. That’s it. If they had incorporated a few of the menu items above, ladies and gentleman, we would have had a true heavyweight date on our hands versus the meaningful glance or two and brush of the fingers that leaves one wanting.
Also glaringly absent from this show was a proper percussion jam. When I saw the “Skate” video, with Mars on the congas and Andy at the set, I immediately started to visualize the mind-blowingness of a toe-to-toe-to-toe drum-off involving Andy, Bruno and Eric, very accomplished percussionists all. And bring in some Latin flavor! That would have been simply ridiculous to see. However, other than Mars guest drumming on “Come Down” and Paak returning the favor on “Runaway Baby,” there was no mention of the enormously talented percussion elephant in the room. Our collective appetites were throughly whetted and we were ready to tuck in for more, but that was the end of the meal. Big miss there.
9. Two words—Mateus Asato.
Speaking of musicianship. I must mention the highlight of this show for me…Mateus Asato. Yes, you read that right. The best moment of An Evening with Silk Sonic was not a Bruno wail or a Paak rap or a well-choreographed top-shelf soul groove—it was a three or four-minute solo interlude by guitar virtuoso Mateus Asato. This brilliantly talented gentleman performed a full-length instrumental version of “Pure Imagination” that was pure mastery. I was on the edge of my seat and had my mouth hanging open the whole time. No preening, no posturing, no funny faces. He just came over to the side of the stage (my side, happily), sat down, and transported us all. If you haven’t checked him out, please do. You’ll be glad you did. He’s incredible.
10. This show gave us some stellar Yang, but missed the mark on the Yin.
I’m a yoga teacher, among other things, and on my teacher’s mat I ramble on and on about how important it is to balance your fiery and flamboyant Yang with your quieter, deep-set Yin. This show was high on the former, with its bejeweled 70s polyester, shiny shoes and peacock strut. But that’s the only layer it had. At no point did the metaphorical (or literal) jacket come off, at no point was there a band just simply creating magic without telling us “Hey, check out this cool magic we engineered!” And that absence somehow made An Evening with Silk Sonic less magical than it could have been.
But again, I’m nibbling away at a show that is all the way live, in which deeply talented musicians serve up perfectly-crafted songs on a bed of stellar showmanship. It’s kinda like whining because you only got two pieces of fatty toro nigiri in your sushi order and wanted some sashimi along with it. All I can say is that I know what the chef can do, and the capacity is there to blow my mind and tingle every taste bud I’ve got. And so, I’ll keep coming back, chopsticks sliding together in anticipation, to see what my next delicious mouthful will be.
Zaide Williams 