While scrolling through my Facebook feed, I noticed that someone on my Facebook news feed posted that funk artist and bass player, Thundercat was coming to town on 2-26-17 to the Magic Stick in Detroit. After hearing the single, “Friend Zone” and his previous album, “Apocalypse” it peaked my interested enough to check him out live. His fourth album, “Drunk” was released on Friday so in preparation for the concert, I decided to dive into the album. Almost instantly, I got the vibe that he stayed true to the soul of funk, and having high profile features from the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Michael McDonald, Wiz Khalifa, Pharrell Williams and Kenny Loggins with production credit from Flying Lotus. The 23 track album is sure to impress even those new to the funk genre and bares a slight comparison to artist, Childish Gambino’s “Awaken My Love” that was released in December.
At the concert, a friend and I were on our way to the venue to purchase tickets when we got the news when we ran into a woman who was selling their tickets because two people from their group couldn’t attend. We gladly paid the tickets and headed to the bar across the magic stick to “pregame” before the concert. About an hour later, we get back to the magic stick where we find a huge line wrapped around the door of the venue, “good thing we scalped them” he said as we were informed the concert was sold out. We get inside grab a few drinks and await the first act, Zach Fox. Until this night, I’ve never heard of him so I didn’t know what to assume but he gets on stage and does a quick bit of stand up comedy to warm up the crowd. His bit ranges from telling Mormon jokes in Utah to police, overall it was a pleasant surprise to hear someone some charismatic and funny without expecting it. About 30 minutes goes by and Thundercat finally gets on stage and absolutely kills it. I’m not sure how many lead bass players there are in the world, but he has to be one of the best ones, period. He revealed that his song, “Tokyo” was about the death of soul songwriter, Leon Ware who passed on 2/23/17 at the age of 77. Thundercat also performed Kendrick Lamar’s “These Walls” which is featured on his second album, “To Pimp a Butterfly” in which Thundercat has a credit on. Overall, the concert was a pleasant experience, he closed the show with, “O Sheit it’s X” which is my personal favorite song under his catalogue. If you haven’t seen him live or heard any of his music, I highly recommend you change that.
Beats, Brews and points of view 