G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE | 01.20.07 | DENVER

Words by: Brian Heisler :: Images by: Pamela Martinez

G. Love & Special Sauce :: 01.20.07 :: The Fillmore Auditorium :: Denver, CO

G. Love & Special Sauce :: 01.20.07 :: By Martinez

For the second of two nights in Denver, a wooden chair sat alone in front of a packed house at The Fillmore Auditorium. That is until the velvet-clad G. Love & Special Sauce took the stage. In a backwards mesh hat, G. Love grabbed the mic and spat rhymes in front of the screaming crowd. G. Love’s presence on stage is much like that of a public speaker. With one eye on the fans and one hand on the mic he moves gracefully from one side of the stage to the other, making eye contact and engaging his people. As G. Love poured a never-ending flow of emotion from the stage, the crowd never got too intense, but included many cheers from the ladies, who were out in force like this was an Abercrombie & Fitch convention. The whole vibe was light and playful, yet seemed a bit out of place in such a big room.

After the first tune, he finally took a seat in that wooden chair and pulled out a neck brace harmonica. The simplicity of the four-piece band kept their funky pop sound tight. The upright bass really gives warmth to their live sound, along with the keys, drums, and G. Love himself. Despite the dancing before and after the show, once the music started the dancing seemed to wane from front to back, with only a head bob or two in the front row.

G. Love :: 01.20.07 :: By Martinez

Just as the audience seemed to be lost in the music, Jamie Janover of Zilla appeared to play his signature hammered dulcimer. Janover offered me this insight on the relationship, “I’ve known G. since the early ’90s back in Boston. I met him through Dave Watts of The Motet. Dave guided me to G. and I recorded on their song ‘Electric Mile.'”

A line or two from Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side” and G. Love slid into “Cold Beverage,” much to the enjoyment of the crowd. Within “Cold Beverage,” the band added what seemed like a reference from the Flaming Lips’ “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.” Ripping through a monstrous song catalog, G. Love & Special Sauce played host to a familiar party. The audience was more than lively before and after the show, but seemingly off to another place during the concert itself. Whether focusing on the lyrics, pretty faces, instrumentation, or what have you, the emotion in the crowd was difficult to find while the band was on stage. That being said, G. Love & Special Sauce brought a unique vibe to The Fillmore, a cross between hip-hop, funk, jam, pop and just straight class.

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