Photos by Edith Williams
The adventures of Gypsy and Soulistic Diva aka Sistahofsoul, ah---what a way to start the week off right! ERRO or better known to most as Eric Roberson with Black Alley and Levi Stephens put on a SHOW at U Street Music Hall---you hear me? Subculture was a show that gave me food for my soul and I'm sure there were others at the venue that probably felt the same way. Opening Act, Levi Stephens brought a some acoustic funk to the event. At first listen, his music reminds me of Hootie and the Blowfish or Tracy Chapman.
Stephens leads in with "Sorry for the Pain I Caused You" and transitions into Aaron Neville's "Keep on Using Me". Stephens acoustic skills are mezmorizing and let's not even go into how he ripped it with his rendition of Al Green's "Love and Happiness" and transitioned into Musiq Soulchild's "Miss You". Performance was crazy and ended in a rock out session with the band. If you're looking for something a little out of the norm, check out Levi Stephens album "This Way".
*Gypsy Note this is my type of music! Levi and band provided an array of songs and their energy was pure and authentic. Baltimore should be on the look out.
Still captivated by the performance of Stephens and that rock out session, I try to mellow out and calm my excitement for the Eric Roberson performance. Just when I thought I had calmed down a bit, Black Alley takes the stage and takes it to another level. B.A. opens with "Runaway Boy", "Raise the Bar", "Push Play" with a transition into Jay-Z and Usher's "Hot Tottie" and then they take it up a notch further with "Tight Rope" by Janelle Monae. Band R.O.C.K.E.D it! I love how Black Alley always mixes in that DC GoGo Flavor to get the crowd hype. In saying that, it just wouldn't be right if they didn't end it with their rendition of Wale's "Pretty Girls".
Now at this point, I'm so hype I can't focus and I'm trying hard to remain calm given the fact that I am in arms length of the stage. I don't want to have security escort me out for getting too live and grooving way too hard, although, the guy on my left probably rocked a little harder than I. (Gypsy pointed that out several times during the show) So---I'm now ampted to the 20th power and the anticipation is killing me but Eric is still not ready to hit the stage.
*Gypsy note...yo dude was about to get whip lash he was movin so hard. The is the second time seeing Black Alley and I liked them the first time, this time...love! They rocked it...HARD*
Iyanna hits the stage and performs a rendition of "Sweet Love" by Anita Baker to ease the crowd and get us ready for ERRO Her performance was great might I add and too bad we couldn't get a little more vocals from her.
WHAT I HAVE BEEN WAITING ALLLLLL NIGHT FOR!!!
ERRO hits the stage opening with "Newness". LOVE LOVE LOVE this song---- For those of you who don't know it, song discusses being caught up with a new love interest and unaware of the REAL on that individual. I'm sure you all have been there.
Eric then leads into "Can I borrow You (Walk Away)" where he asks a woman to groove with him and pretend as though she's his for the night even though she's with someone else. Love the the instrumentals on this cut. Skip a few songs and he goes to "Dealing" which normally features Lala Hathaway but in the absence of Ms. Hathaway, Eric calls up an audience member to perform her verse. The young woman did a pretty good job with Eric encouraging her through the verse.
Eric leads in with uuhh hummm GRAMMY NOMINATED "Still" and finishes off with "She" a love ballad. Song is touching and makes you melt. I would give you all the FULL blown list of songs performed during the concert, however, I want you to feel slightly jealous you weren't there. (Wink) Overall---this was a show you really SHOULDNT have missed. The vibe from the audience was sick and the bands were off the hook. I know for a fact one of the drummers broke his sticks so the show was LIKE THAT!
*Gypsy Note: Attention readers...Eric Roberson Shows NEVER Get Old...we hope to see you at the next one!*
Well---signing off and again, next time Eric Roberson is in town, you might want to make sure you get that ticket!
Gypsy Soul cant wait to see what Zody Quan & Alley House Ent have in store for 2011 with the Subculture Series!
Until later---you know where to hit me @Sistahofsoul
Soulistic Diva
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