Tonight was the first concert of the season for Sundown in the City and what a concert it was!  The opening act was the native Knoxville band Dishwater Blonde. They’re a very interesting mix of hip-hop, funk, rock and even a bit of raggae for good measure. What I didn’t know about them was that the band members are unapologetic Christians, weaving hymns into their original compositions. I didn’t have high hopes for them as they ran through their sound track but I was more than pleasantly surprised; enough that I’m going to pick up at least one of their albums if not the trio.

But that was just the opening act. The headliner (ha!) was my all time favorite band Arrested Development!  I arrived early and got a great spot right up against the rail, just left of center stage, only fifteen feet from the band.They played old favorites like Tennessee, Mr. Wendell, People Everyday and Africa’s Inside Me plus one of my top two favorites of all time, Fishin’ for Religion.

Some seventeen years after the release of “3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of…” they have three original members left, Speech of course is still there, otherwise it wouldn’t be AD. The other two remaining members are Eshe and Baba Oje. Joining them are turntableist 1 Love, bass player Zaz, guitarist JJ and vocalist Tasha.

Arrested Development doesn’t have concerts; they have what they call Celebrations of Life, Liberty and the Struggles of Our Ancestors. You can only describe them as that. The show started with Baba walking out and getting the crowd screaming just by being there. The man is seventy-four next month and I expected him to spend most of his time in the rocking chair that had been brought on stage. He in fact spent very little time in it. Once he was joined by Eshe, dancing what could only be described as a “tribal” dance he began to perk up and really get the crowd going. Speech, from off stage, announced the beginning of the celebration.

They played for an hour and forty-five minutes covering both new material and old. 1 Love did a few raps in the middle of a few songs and of course Eshe and Tasha each had parts. When they performed Tennessee they started with a long introduction, getting the crowd to chant “Tennessee” before finally launching into those oh so familiar lyrics.

I went by myself but was found by a co-worker (the owner of the post-it noted office, actually) and her friend. The was also a woman whose name I didn’t ask right behind me. She was a lot of fun and I was glad to share the experience with her. There was another woman who stood on the other side of my friend from work who I walked with a bit on the way back to the parking garage after the show; I was glad to be able to speak to her as well.

Man…I really love that band.

Arrested Development
Dishwater Blonde
Speech
Sundown in the City