Seems like a decade since I’ve stepped foot in this legendary club. Toad’s fall from grace has relegated them to a purgatory of sophomoric glow light-jello shot- dance parties. Happy to see that Thievery Corporation decided to grace the stage. TC has been a fave of mine since the early oughts and has had a string of excellent global socially conscious riddims. Washington DC based, the groups core are Rob Garza on keys and beats and Eric Hilton on drums and percussion. On this evening, they are joined by guitar ( who also did time with electric sitar), leg hair shaking bass, and another drummer. The musicians formed a formidable backdrop for a parade of singers and rappers. First up was a young lady who looked like Elvira’s niece. She started with the excellent Heaven’s Gonna Burn Your Eyes. Next up was a young Pharrell looking dude, dapper with a derby hat, he had a soulful croon and did The Richest Man in Babylon and Amerimacka. The third singer was an African American woman who had an island vibe and toasted some reggae inflected rhymes. She wasn’t quite Sister Nancy, maybe Sister Nancy’s Sister. The next singer was a dreaded rapper( rapper with dreads?) who spit rhymes and prowled the stage. At one point Hilton took vocal duties for The Heart is a Lonely Hunter ( original vocals were done by David Byrne) and swung a glowing orb over his head and the crowd to a trippy effect. Garza was on an elevated platform and presided over the proceedings like a sage soundsystem wrangler. About two thirds of the way through, stage crew set up chairs on stage and the musicians did an “unplugged” set with the singers parading through. Good crowd for a Wednesday night. Toads tagline is “where the legends play”, it would be nice if they returned to form. Legends do their Jell-O shots and glow lights on the tour bus.
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