Marcus King Among Soulive Guests At Brooklyn Bowl For Weekend 2 Bowlive VIII Opener

Soulive continued a celebration of their 20th anniversary and of Brooklyn Bowl’s 10th anniversary with a special concert on Thursday night. The band was joined by guitarist Marcus King, trumpeter Maurice Brown, guitarist Tash Neal and harmonica wiz Frederic Yonnet at their fourth of six Bowlive VIII concerts at original Brooklyn Bowl in New York City.

Last night’s concert was sold out before showtime and the venue was packed but not uncomfortably so. Soulive — featuring guitarist Eric Krasno, keyboardist Neal Evans and drummer Alan Evans — kicked off the marathon first set by themselves with “Shaheed” from 2001’s Doin’ Something and the pairing of “El Ron” and “Aladdin” from their self-titled 2003 LP. The guest action started with Brown emerging in the middle of “PJ’s” off 2009’s Up Here and also contributing to a cover of “Povo,” a tune popularized in 1972 by Freddie Hubbard. Maurice “Mobetta” Brown not only unleashed melodic and powerful trumpet solos, he also has incredible stage presence and enthused the capacity crowd with his delivery.

The excitement was taken to the next level when Marcus King came out and led the trio through a triumphant version of Blind Faith’s “Had To Cry Today.” King has come a long way in the two years since his Bowlive debut and his appearance surely helped sell out the venue. Marcus has played a handful of gigs with Krasno as a member of supergroup The Cleaners. The interplay between the guitarists was superb from “Had To Cry Today” through every number in which they shared the stage.

Marcus led Soulive through his own “Dyin'” and then teamed with the trio on a sizzling rendition of The Isley Brothers’ “Work To Do” that ended with a jam on the Grateful Dead’s “Fire On The Mountain.” The first set concluded with a wild cover of Freddie King’s blues standard “Have You Ever Loved A Woman” featuring Marcus, Maurice and Frédéric. At one point, Krasno gave his guitar over to Tash Neal who delivered a jaw-dropping solo to the delight of the packed house.

Alan, Eric and Neal began the second set without any guests for “Outrage” and “One In Seven.” The latter featured a lengthy drum solo from Alan Evans. Then, Marcus King returned to front a standout cover of Ani DiFranco’s “Joyful Girl.” Soulive recorded a take on “Joyful Girl” with Dave Matthews for 2002’s Next. More memorable moments followed as King belted out Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City” and Marcus went toe-to-toe with Kraz on The Allman Brothers Band’s “Whipping Post.” Soulive, who received keys to the venue from co-owner Peter Shapiro, was joined by all of the evening’s guests for a bluesy version of The Band’s “The Weight” as the encore.

Soulive’s Bowlive VIII residency continues on Friday night with special guest George Porter Jr..

Fan-Shot Videos

Whipping Post

Joyful Girl

Setlist (via Jambands.com)

Set One: Shaheed, El Ron, Aladdin, PJ’s*, Povo*, Had to Cry Today#, Dyin#, Work to Do#, Have You Ever Loved A Woman?#^+

Set Two: Outrage, One in Seven, Joyful Girl#, Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City#, Whipping Post#^

Encore: The Weight#^+

• * w/ Maurice Brown
• ^ w/ Frédéric Yonnet
• + w/ Tash Neal
• # w/ Marcus King