G. Love and Special Sauce ~ August 10, 2008 ~ High Falls Brewery ~ Rochester, N.Y.

A man, his guitar and a chair. That was all Garrett Dutton III, also known as G. Love, needed to get the party started in Rochester. He took his seat and opened the night with the uplifting "Rainbow," a song that evokes living in the now. "I woke up this morning, a rainbow filled the sky. That's god telling me everything's gonna be alright," crooned the hep cat from Philly.
His back-up band Special Sauce — Jimi Prescott on the stand-up bass, Jeffrey Clemens on drums and Mark Boyce on keys — are a key element in the recognizable sound that G. Love calls Hip Hop Blues.
Their laid-back grooves were displayed on songs like "Waiting," "Hot Cooking" and "Holla."

G. elevated the crowd as he strummed and sang "Rodeo Clown," which still gets good air play on indie stations. It was nice to hear him give a shout out to his rebel Jack Johnson, whom he recorded the song with on his 1999 release Phildelphonic. He also took the time to show his gratitude to Jon Butler and Tristan Prettyman for opening the show. After thanking Rochester for being in the house, he asked the people if they wanted some old school. This led into a medley of "Blues Music," Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" and a spin on Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It," which is well -known for its sampling of "Wild Side."
"Yo Rochester, can I kick it?" G. Love shouted. The crowd hollered back, "Yes you can!" The crowd's response was right on cue, as if they had rehearsed it. How do you not love this guy? He is the ultimate party maestro. Although he has a 15-year repertoire of songs sure to keep everyone happy, he also introduced his fans to material from his new album Superhero Brother. A song that instantly stuck in my head was "Peace, Love and Happiness." It was not hard to resist the urge to wanna put you're hands in the air and shout the feel-good lyrics.

Photo by Joe Koch

As G. Love returned to stage for an encore, he was solo with his acoustic guitar and performed "Gimme Some Lovin," another tune from Phildelphonic. The evening's highlight came when he invited Jon Butler to come help him with the next song.
"We've kinda been messin' around with this," said G. Love. The duo sat side by side as they performed their rendition of the Beatles cover "Black Bird." It was all smiles as they left the ecstatic crowd craving more.

For more info go to: www.philadelphonic.com