Alabama Shakes @ Echo Beach, Toronto – June 20, 2013
Unpretentious.
Workmanlike. Relatable. The performance by Alabama Shakes at Toronto’s Echo
Beach on Thursday, June 20 was all of the above. And yet, while front-woman
Brittany Howard appears inconspicuous, on stage she becomes a presence that
elevates the Shakes from hook-driven soul and blues-rock to cultural
phenomenon.
In a crowd that was
about three-quarters female – one of the only shows I’ve ever been to where I
actually DID NOT feel short – the female empowerment vibes were hard to ignore.
The emotional delivery of songs like the sultry Boys & Girls (“Oh
why did I let them drive a wedge between, well I watched it, and I didn't say
nothing, and now I'm crying when I sleep”), was clearly a resonant experience
for the female-centric audience. Cries
of “She’s SO amazing!” were met with “I know – isn’t she just SO GREAT?!”
throughout the crowd after every song. For what it’s worth, the men there
heartily agreed.
Standing barefoot in
the sand of Echo Beach (there is an actual sand pit in the middle of the crowd
area, with shoe-check available for those who want to it between their toes)
this show was the perfect way to kick off the official coming of summer. There
was a warm, affirmative, lean-on-me kind of vibe, as befitting a beautiful
evening on the banks of Lake Ontario.
From the
slow-burning opener of Rise to the Sun
– which perfectly set the stage for their epic duo of Hang Loose and Hold On
(my personal favourite) – Always Alright and
I Found You led into the
album-sequenced Heartbreaker, Boys & Girls, and Be Mine. Closing the set with the
smashing, barreling-forward Heavy Chevy,
Howard’s intro of “He asked me not to go so fast!” whipped the crowd into one
last screaming frenzy that had her band mates racing to keep up.
While there’s no
doubting the musicianship of the Shakes – guitarist Howard, bassist Zach
Cockrell, drummer Steve Johnson, and second guitar Heath Fogg – the rest of the
band seems to provide a canvas for Howard to work her magic. She is Buddy
Holly, Chuck Berry, Mick Jagger and Ferris Beuller rolled into one, a dynamo in
a understated sun dress playing guitar like you would if you were trying to
impersonate the greats in a karaoke bar. Except she’s actually playing.
Howard acts like any
fun-loving, confident, bar-rockin’ male guitar player would, one who is clearly
having a blast playing music – but she does it with such swagger and natural
showmanship that she cant help but become a standard-bearer for women in rock.
A morally upstanding and wholesome rock-and-roll model for the many young women
(and children) in the crowd.
Experiencing this
show and feeing how the crowd connected with the simple yet relatable subject
matter of Howard’s songs, as well as her crystal clear, soul-filled delivery,
it seems that Alabama Shakes has hit upon a winning combination. With concepts
everyone can relate to – love, self-worth, heartbreak, resentment, perseverance
– woven into tunes few ears can ignore, this is the perfect family or couple’s
concert. Canada wants more Alabama Shakes!
