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The last time I wrote for FunkCity.net, I concluded my review by saying that I would love to see Snarky Puppy once venues opened up after the COVID-19 pandemic.  On Thursday April 13, 2023 that wish finally came true.  But before we get into that, let’s recap what Snarky Puppy has been up to since the triumphant return of live music…   Snarky Puppy recorded their fourteenth album Empire Central from March 4-10, 2022 at Deep Ellum Art Company in Dallas, Texas.  They recorded 16 new tracks for a small in-studio audience, similar to the setup for their albums Tell YourContinue Reading

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This is it.  After seven months, 123 shows, and countless hours of traveling and performing to packed houses across the world…Snarky Puppy arrived in Nuremberg, Germany for THE TOUR FINALE!! As it turned out, the last show of the Immigrance tour – at the Lowensaal venue – was the Pups’ first time in Nuremberg.  However, it was also the last show for TJ Abbonizio, the band’s longtime tour manager.  He gets a rousing ovation amidst hilarious circumstances which you’ll read about soon.  This set is well-balanced and includes tunes from the band’s vast catalog.  Michelle Willis opened for Snarky Puppy.  Continue Reading

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For the penultimate show of the Immigrance tour, Michael League and his band of merry men delivered a great concert at the Im Wizemann venue in Stuttgart, Germany.  This show sees a rare appearance of “Alma,” an unchained “Tio Macaco,” and some guitar wizardry on “What About Me.” Surprisingly, “Chonks,” “Bigly Strictness,” and “Bad Kids from the Back” are all absent from the set list…but nonetheless the show still rocks! A bonus video will be linked at the end of this review. Track-By-Track Chrysalis – Jason “JT” Thomas kicks off the proceedings with the funky, stuttering drum intro.  Then BobbyContinue Reading

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As if Snarky Puppy’s roster wasn’t stacked enough, they found two other musicians to join them for the show at Batschkapp.  Who were they? Some relatively up-and-coming musicians by the names of Chris Potter and Eric Harland….   PSYCH! Chris and Eric are undoubtedly two of jazz’s living legends.  Chris Potter is one of the greatest saxophonists to walk the face of the earth, and Eric Harland is a dynamic drummer who’s collaborated with McCoy Tyner, Wynton Marsalis, Charles Lloyd, Joshua Redman, Dave Holland, Julian Lage, Joe Henderson, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Zakir Hussain among others.  The entire two-hour performance is sensational,Continue Reading

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By November 22, 2019, Snarky Puppy had been touring in support of their album Immigrance for seven months.  Being the masterful bandleader that he is, Michael League reintroduced some older Snarky Puppy tracks into their live repertoire, including “Intelligent Design” which is featured in this show.  Over two thousand fans attended the concert at Salle Pleyel in Paris, and the energy in this recording is off the charts! The band is well-rehearsed, relaxed, and firing on all cylinders.  I struggled to find any flaws with this performance…and that’s really saying something.  It’s also the longest-running show in my Snarky PuppyContinue Reading

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After a dynamic performance in Nantes, Snarky Puppy moved on to Toulouse for another  great show at Le Zenith.  This show contains lots of great tunes from the SP repertoire: there are oldies like “Intelligent Design” and “Flood” grouped with newer tunes such as “Bigly Strictness” and “Chonks.” Becca Stevens & Michelle Willis opened the concert.  A bonus video will be linked at the end of this review.   Track-By-Track Beep Box – The concert begins with a sinister synth bassline from Michael League.  The keyboardists add spacey melodic fills, and Zach Brock makes his violin strings tremble.  Chris McQueen (onContinue Reading

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France…home of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Tour de France, and some of the most ardent Snarky Puppy fans ever! After seven intense months of touring, the boys traveled to France to begin the final twelve shows of the Immigrance tour.  They would also make stops in Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Germany, including an unforgettable finale in Nuremberg (to be reviewed in an upcoming article).  Chris McQueen returned to the band as the guitarist when Mark Lettieri left after the show in Glasgow.  This concert, held at Le Zénith Métropole Nantes, features a fantastic setlist, an energetic crowd, and a rareContinue Reading

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How do you follow up a magnificent, career-defining, Grammy-winning concert at the Royal Albert Hall? If your band is like most other bands, you’d go and take a couple of days off, maybe go sightseeing in London and hit up some English pubs.  True to form (and not to rest on their laurels), Snarky Puppy soldiered on with a high-energy concert at the O2 Apollo in Manchester – their first time at the venue in over two years.  It’s rare to see them perform with more than nine members onstage, and in this show there were eleven! The full instrumentationContinue Reading

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In this concert Snarky Puppy finds its rhythm after Chris McQueen’s departure and Jamison Ross’s arrival.  The audience at De Roma in Antwerp, Belgium is super receptive to the new tunes as well as the standards.  This lineup features an expanded horn section, as well as the rare pairing of Jamison Ross with percussionist Marcelo Woloski.  It seems to me that because of each member’s gigging schedules, Marcelo usually plays with Jason “JT” Thomas and Keita Ogawa gets teamed with Jamison Ross for most Snarky Puppy shows.  But of course, it’s purely by coincidence and they could work equally wellContinue Reading

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Here we go, friends…the last month of the Immigrance tour! Diehard Snarky Puppy fans know that the band’s album We Like It Here was recorded in Utrecht, so the Netherlands hold a special place in our hearts.  The Dutch fans came out in droves to the venue Tivoli Vredenburg for another great show loaded with new tunes – five, to be exact! This is Jamison Ross’s first night with the Pups since October 5, and he kills it with some sensational drumming.  He stays on for a week before Jason “JT” Thomas arrives for the remaining three weeks of touringContinue Reading