Philzone.org - Philzone Phansite Community Discussion Board: Setlists and Reviews: Non GD Related Reviews: Archive: Galactic - Independant - 7/25

A short one..... I'm on a hotel computer.

A great show; last night & tonight are benefits for the Houseman, who is sick, and featured special guests Ivan Neville & Leo Noccitelli(sp?) and a couple of bogus rappers..... and the HOUSEMAN! He hasn't toured with the band for a couple of years now so for older fans this was a special evening.

I was never a fan of the Houseman in the days when I was REALLY a fan of this band (his songs were the bathroom breaks for me) but last night it was great because he was what the show was about and it was obvious that the band was really enjoying playing with him again and playing his tunes again.

The place was packed, they played great, it was Galactic. Then just like the old days the Houseman came out to sing a few and it was easy to see that he is sick; VERY skinny & frail looking, but more surprisingly he was wearing an understated grey suit instead of his more normal, colorful theads. He sang well, but the power of his voice was noticably deminished (to me) but the room is small (the perfect sized place for Galactic) the grooves were jumping and so was the crowd.

The highlights of the show were when Leo & Ivan joined Stanton & Robert (bass) as a four piece and just RIPPED! It was tight & groovin' and Noccitelli was playing some amazing solos. REALLY GREAT!

The 2nd set was more of the same, except for a waste of time involving a couple of rappers who did what rappers always do...... POSE, jibberjabber and rap. A dull waste of time (IMO) but it did excentuate the greatness of real musicians like Leo & Ivan when they came back on stage right after & RIPPED again! Also joining the the scene at the end was a marching tuba player and the group went oldschool New Orleans with some really dirty funk!! Great stuff.

The set ended with a SMOKIN' Hey Pockey Way and a good encore with everyone, including the always cool Houseman. A great show with a special vibe.

The Houseman; I never liked him, but now I love him.

Nice! Wish I could've made these shows. The Houseman.... We love 'em tonight!

their new record is a concept album with the band backing a bunch of rappers, so you're lucky you didn't get more hip-hop lyrical gymnastics. glad to hear the turnout for this was good, the houseman deserves the love and an ivan sit in always makes an evening better.

It's the hip-hop direction that has turned me away from this band, but I figured because these were Houseman benefits the vibe would be old-school Galactic, and it very much was.

I heard the next night went until 2:30 with Les Claypool sitting in for a few. One thing about Galactic, they love to jam with people.