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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

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After listening to several recordings of international Snarky Puppy concerts, I’ve noticed that European fans give Snarky Puppy an equal mix of focus and enthusiasm.  They’re not rowdy, nor are they tuned out.  They give the entire band their undivided attention and applaud at the right times, which helps feed the band’s performance.  The Danish crowd at Train is a prime example.  If you want to hear a solid set with mostly new material from Immigrance, check this show out! Here, the dynamic duo of Mark Lettieri and Chris McQueen takes center stage with several blistering guitar solos.   MichaelContinue Reading

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Saturday might as well be called ‘Soulday’ as this may be the strongest single day soul lineup ever with The Original Nth Power, Cautious Clay, Durand Jones and the Indicators, and Leon Bridges. By the time Saturday rolls around, everyone’s fully in the groove and the vibe is amazing.  On top of that list for soulful souls, there’s some special treats for the funksters and blues crews as well. I’ll jump into my target schedule right here – The Original Nth Power as the name implies brings the band back together with their original 5 – Nate Edgar (bass), NikkiContinue Reading

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Hulaween, held in Live Oak, Florida at the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park is one of the biggest, most magical and musically diverse fall festivals in the Eastern U.S.  The heavy hitting lineup is always headlined by String Cheese Incident and a rotating group of additional headliners leaning toward jam band and electronic music. Prior to 2015, Bear Creek was a funk festival held at the same location a few weeks later in the fall and was a favorite of that fan base.  ‘Hula’ took the baton from Bear Creek starting in 2015 and I’ve attended every Hulaween since asContinue Reading

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Hey hey! I’m back with some more reviews of the Snarky Puppy Immigrance concerts.  On October 22, 2019 the Pups commenced the FINAL European leg of the tour in Oslo, Norway! The lineup at the Sentrum Scene featured a full horn section with Mike “Maz” Maher, Chris Bullock, Bob Reynolds, and Justin Stanton doubling on trumpet and keyboards.  Mark Lettieri was on guitar, Shaun Martin played keyboards, Marcelo Woloski handled percussion, Jason “JT” Thomas sat behind the drum kit, and the expert bassist and bandleader Michael League rounded it out.  Forq opened for Snarky Puppy.  Several other members joined throughoutContinue Reading