The Black Pumas perform with a collective joy that seems to stem from a few things: a rhythm section that is driving and inventive, songs that create tension and release, and a quiet confidence that they are a very good band. At Cat’s Cradle the other night, they came onto the stage in an understated way–no introduction or music that cut off or lights dimming, just folks wandering onto the stage with little waves of acknowledgement and nods to the crowd that was already grinning at them with anticipation. Of course, the audience had high hopes, because The Black Pumas’ debut record is stunning. And we were not disappointed.
Eric Burton’s range as a singer is totally captivating and inspiring, but his openness as a performer brings you into the experience, instead of keeping you outside marvelling at what you’re witnessing. He slides, poses, salutes, struts, and sits with Oscar, the puma mascot at the front of the stage. But more than any of these things, he conducts. At one point, he crouched low to the ground and stood, raising his arms to the crowd, causing everyone to raise their voices in unison with the band, and then everyone quieted again as Burton brought us down, then back up, and down again, with shimmers of cymbals from drummer Stephen Bidwell mirroring our voices. He invited us to greet the people around us, introduce ourselves, find out who we were dancing with–and he did that too, shaking hands and exchanging greetings with the folks in the front of the stage. He jumped down onto the dance floor, spinning with a couple of people before hopping back up on stage. He is the type of performer who uses his gifts to create community.
This band is so good, the opener, Rudy De Anda and his band were down front, dancing with the crowd. De Anda’s set was excellent–he is creative and really interacts with the audience. He’s very funny–at one point, while playing a song about his home in California, he said, “Can’t you almost see it? The palm trees…the gentrification…the beaches.”
The band is so good, they started with three songs not on their record and had the crowd right with them. I loved their version of “More Than a Love Song,” and “Black Cat” is an original of theirs that didn’t make the album but will be a live staple for sure. Adrian Quesada was pretty understated at the beginning of the set, but had blistering solos on “Fire,” and “Black Moon Rising.” I first saw Quesada play with Glorietta at Newport a couple of years ago, and now I know that anything he’s involved with will be fantastic. JaRon Marshall’s keyboard solo on “Colors” was electric and Lauren Cervantes and Angela Miller were amazing all night, but their vocals on “Colors” elevated the whole song and Miller’s tambourine on “Fire,” was, um, fiery–so much so that when she put the instrument down, someone said, “More tambourine!” recalling Bruce Dickinson’s fever.
Finally, their encore was ELEANOR RIGBY. Trust me, you have never heard this song this way before. You can check out their version below but you can also catch The Black Pumas live. Their next stops include Fairfield, CT, Northhampton, MA, and Boston before they head West and then over to Europe.