Attending a Robert Randolph show is like going to church at your grandma’s house. It’s where all your cousins are in the band choir and your uncles are swinging your aunts around the dance floor and grandma is cooking up a big meal in the kitchen. This is while everyone is having a good time. It’s a family show. A big family show. Randolph grew up listening to religious music played by his family in a style called “sacred steel.” This is a device of gospel music formed back in the early 1900’s. He took the stage at the Canalside concert venue at Buffalo’s waterfront and brought his Family Band along with him.
The band appeared to the strains of “Sex Machine” by James Brown, Randolph led his band through more than two hours of non-stop blues, boogie, and gospel tunes. It was one song after another, more like a long medley than a traditional song lineup. “I Thank You” picked up the pace and “I Need More Love” followed and the band began to stretch out. “Cousin Stevie” on bass and “Cousin Marcus” on drums put down a vicious backing beat. Lead guitarist “Cousin Brett Haas” traded leads with Randolph on almost every song, showing a technical style that complimented Randolph’s slide picking power. The show ramped up with “The March,” a New Orleans – style instrumental street march that showed Randolph’s taste for different genre.
Haas took the lead vocal on the Band’s “Up On Cripple Creek” and an exquisite rendition of Black Sabbaths “War Pigs” expanded the band’s style reach once again. With all that talent onstage, Randolph had no problem sharing the spotlight with them.
Sending a message of respect for family and working together, Randolph made up a song on the fly. “”Buffalo Works” was a plea to work to bring about peace and understanding. As the show closed, He took his message even further with encores of L.O.V.E. and “She Got Soul.” Both songs were about spreading the message of love instead of violence and hate. The meaning is an old one but on this night it was the right one. Randolph and his Family were perfect examples of working together. They left the stage holding hands high and the crowd did the same. For a few hours this night, everything was right with the world. The family has spoken.
Setlist:
Intro – Sex Machine (James Brown)
America The Beautiful
I Thank You (Sam & Dave)
I Need More Love
The March
Up On Cripple Creek (The Band)
War Pigs (Black Sabbath)
Shake It
Use Me (Bill Withers)
I Don’t Know What You Come To Do
Got to Be
Buffalo Work (freestyle)
Encore
L.O.V.E. Love
She Got Soul
We would like to thank Erin Marra from Canalside for the credentials to review the show.
