Showmanship is a wonderful, if not necessary, component to live music. Let’s be real, a talented musical artist can blow you away with little-to-no banter/stage production/dance moves. If you’ve got a killer voice and good beats, you’re good to go.
That being said, when you see a great band and throw in great showmanship: it’s awesome. B Side Shuffle proved its mettle in both categories at their Friday show at the 9:30 Club. The quartet (and friends) gave the sold out venue a great spectacle, replete with favorite tracks (Bradley’s Revenge being my new top listen), friendly shout-outs, great threads (I want their graphic tees and throw back sunglasses to be my new look), and energetic moves that amped fans up. The band left the stage to chants of “B SIDE B SIDE” and I’m sure they’ll be back around town soon to give fans more of their funk rock fusion best.
White Ford Bronco, DC’s beloved 90s cover band, came next. It was my first time seeing the group and they delivered everything I’d expect a revered cover band to offer: top hits, great renditions on class tracks, sass (my favorite line being: Hey DC, guess what? We found our own tickets going for $80 on Craigs List! What UPPPPP!), and beats to make my rapidly ageing generation move their feet. 311, Third Eye Blind, Backstreet Boys, Oasis: they gave it all. And the crowd ate it up.
A great show. A great way to kick off the holiday season feeling both optimistically upbeat and appropriately reflective of just how freaking old we’re getting. Yup, middle-age here we come. Happy New Years!