LIVING COLOUR | CENTRAL PARK | 08.05

I was in the 5th grade and only owned 3 store-bought analog casettes: Guns and Roses' Appetite for Destruction, U2's Rattle and Hum, and Living Colour's Vivid. On any given weekday in 1989, awaiting the bus I would bang my head to Vernon Ried's frenzied guitar chops while belting out Corey Glover's soulful accounts of the Black Rock Movement. At that point in my musical listening life, I wasn't aware of the motives behind the creation of this music. In fact, I'm pretty sure I was only concerned with the fact that it rocked. Twelve years later, it rocks as hard as ever; not only through the power chords, but in the social messages being delivered.

Asian Dub Foundation, a band I had never heard of before Sunday afternoon opened the bill to an eager audience. With a combination of political fury reminiscent of Rage Against the Machine, the pop-gusto social cynicism of Radiohead, and the self-sufficiency of Public Enemy these idealist rockers brought their messages to the forefront of all audience members thoughts. Playing what they call a "combination of hard ragga-jungle rhythms, indo-dub basslines, searing sitar- inspired guitars and 'traditional' sounds gleaned from their parents' record collections, shot through with fast-chat conscious lyrics" they were able to communicate their frustrations with global society. Performing songs in honor or memory of Saptal Ram, Nustrat Fateh Ali Kahn, and Assata Shakur amongst others, they publicized injustices while praising their spiritual influences. Many thanks to the British Council for the Arts for supplying the funding to help this crew further spread their messages against globalization and the corruption inherent within it.

Range of Uniqueness. There are so many aspects of Living Colour's music and messages which displayed just that on Sunday afternoon. A bewildered audience enthusiastically greeted their hard rock heroes as they ripped open the show with the very powerful "Ignorance is Bliss" off their third album, Stain. After this song, the audience (as well as the band members) collectively stopped to pinch themselves, in an effort to confirm that Living Colour are back!

Corey Glover even asked the audience if we'd missed them, as it was evident that they missed us. With the crowd still roaring, we got a taste of where the new Living Colour has evolved. Will Calhoun began fiddling with a drum sequencer while simultaneously teasing his skins. Doug Wimbish, who joined the band in 1992 and is known as the man who played the bass line in "Rapper's Delight", patted one of the 10 or so basses he played during the show. Vernon Ried was looping subtle guitar effects over the beats Will was dropping, while Corey Glover was projecting ambient noise through a megaphone. They then launched into "Sacred Ground" which was followed up by "Middle Man" off their classic debut, Vivid. After a raucous "Time's Up" they dove into the following medley of songs:
Drum and Bass intro -->
Papa was a Rolling Stone (a composition of Norman Whitfield with lyrics by Barrett Strong made popular by the Temptations) -->
Elvis is Dead (off of Time's Up) -->
Drum and Bass Version of I Can't Help Falling in Love With You (recorded by Elvis Presley) -->
Elvis is Dead -->
Type (off of Time's Up) -->
Police & Thieves (Junior Mervin song made popular by The Clash) -->
Type

This was truly an amazing amalgamation of music. After another cut off of Time's Up, "Love Rears Its Ugly Head" the audience finally got what it had been craving. You all know the lick - dah na na na da na na na. "Cult of Personality" complete with crowd surfing and a Corey Glover stage dive! Not that they needed to, but the band came back out and performed Hendrix's "Power of Soul" where they drove home the message "with the power of soul, anything is possible."

To end the show, the band picked a song controversial in nature that addresses the ever-present issue of racial profiling in today's society. Written by Bruce Springstein in 1999, "American Skin (41 shots)" speaks of the shooting death of black West African immigrant Amadou Diallo by white New York City police officers. As Elysa Gardner of USA TODAY pointed out,

"Those who would cast 'Skin' as an anti-police diatribe were off the mark. The song is more elegiac than angry in tone, expressing sorrow for all parties involved in the incident and, on a larger scale, asking what we can do to overcome the lack of communication that leads to such tragedies."

It was evident that tears began to swell up in front man Glover's eyes midway through the ballad. As he repeatedly chanted "forty-one shots" over and over towards the end of the song, Wimbish ripped 41 gun shot snare kicks that had everyone in attendance flinch back a few inches. This overflow of emotion was too much for Glover to handle as he burst out in tears and was unable to finish the song. It was irrelevant, however, as the message had clearly been communicated through his genuine performance.

As evolution dictates, people embrace styles and messages which they feel a connection to. Living Colour has evolved their music from such legends as Jimi Hendrix, David Byrne, and Sly Stone en route to creating their own personal legend. They delivered a post-punk, hard-edged brand of electronic rock and roll on Sunday afternoon where their message was loud and clear. Today, I found myself on a Manhattan street corner, waiting for a bus, listening and better understanding just why Living Colour does rock.

Donald Butke
JamBase New York City | A Man On Many A Scene
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