Trombone Shorty with a Noteworthy Show Vancouver review

Trombone Shorty with a Noteworthy Show
written by Scotty Evil

January went out with a bang of a show when the Commodore hosted New Orlean’s son, Trombone Shorty and his band.

The growing crowd was treated to a blazing range of bluesy rock from the Jamie McLean Band. While some openers can be snoozers, Jamie McLean grabbed the crowd by the nether regions and soon had them screaming for more.

His range of tempos and influences were diverse and easily could have opened for a variety of genres. He seems to relish turning his sound on a dime and the audience followed right along. Grinning from ear to ear he seemed a little blown away at the positive reaction.

After a quick turn around by the stage crew, the lights dimmed. As the band took the stage, one of the guitar players raised his arms to pump up the expectant crowd. Trombone Shorty took the stage and after a brief musical intro kicked it off with the heavy funk of “Where It At”. With a signature fusion of R&B, funk and hip-hop with an energy and an edge to it, the fans ate it up.

The shades and the jacket didn’t stay on Troy Andrews (aka Trombone Shorty) for long. He moved quickly across the stage, engaging with fans and band members. This was James Brown-level conducting going on, with everyone’s timing down to the millisecond.

Highlights included launching into “The Sunny Side of the Street” in which, halfway through he holds a note on the trumpet for an inhuman amount of time (it was seriously close to 3 minutes) by virtue of a technique called “circular breathing” (Had to look that up!). The crowd went nuts.

He also featured his two backup singers (who are no slouches in the vocals department) on “Lose My Mind).

There wasn’t a single spot of this performance that was short on anything. Glad I got to catch it. Check out the photos below and find more at Red Lenses Photography Facebook HERE.