The set is taken mainly from their album last year ‘Sea of Noise’ with select tracks from their debut plus the usual array of covers. It’s fair to say that their albums do not do this band any justice. Nothing prepares you for the impact of first seeing this band and Paul Janeway’s stunning voice. It’s live where they really excel. It’s almost impossible to capture the energy of their live performances on tape.
The band are really tight working seamlessly as a unit with their superb horn section and the great Browan Lollar on guitar (check out his solo Ep from a few years back). St Paul are now a highly polished outfit and their sound has really grown from the first time I saw them.
The crowd are really up for it tonight, maybe because its Friday night but I don’t think I have heard such a noise at the Forum for many a year. It’s a big stage at the Forum and the positioning of the band isn’t great as we couldn’t see most of the horn section who were far stage left. The dilemma for any band that grows quickly is the pressure to put on bigger shows at the bigger venues. Tonight the music did the talking but maybe the set production values, lights, etc. need to be raised for these bigger shows.
Highlights for me come from the first album with ‘Call Me’ and ‘Broken bones and pocket change’ along with the cover of ‘Shake’. I think here lies my only small gripe. The quality of the songs needs to be raised to really take them to the next level. The highs are very high but some can often level out.
It’s a minor gripe but these guys are a must see if you haven’t. Its sweet soul music.
Keep on soulful rockin y’all