Chuck Brown came on stage like an exiled leader coming home and being reinstated. He was ushered by the group lead by Rob Garza and Eric Hilton—known to all of us as the Thievery Corporation. Brown received an emotional tribute by fans packed on the floor of Kastles Stadium last Saturday night. He’s known as the “Godfather of Go-Go,” a style of funk music cultivated here in DC.
This was mid-show, and by this time we were slain by Thievery’s exotic sounds, as well as those of openers The Funk Ark and The Arkives, and DJ sets from Volta Bureau.
Thievery’s new album The Culture of Fear is just another calling card that teases you to experience what really goes down when they perform live. The studio sessions compared with live performances are like day and night. Garza and Hilton stood on stage like imperial guards as Natalia Clavier, the first vocalist, came on center stage to add her angelic voice to “Lebanese Blonde.”
She got the crowds fists pumping in unison with the call, “How you feelin’ DC?” And our comeback: a lovefest of cheers.
The band was fleshed out with Frank Mitchell, donning his signature afro and burning-hot sax riffs into the ether. Bassist Ashish “Hash” Vyas whipped across the stage with heavy yet flirtatious chords. And Rob Myers—throughout the show—switched between sitar and guitar. His skill is effortless, like isometric exercises. LouLou, the bronze-skinned, Iranian chanteuse, played off the band with her passaggio, both breathy and inspirational.
And, then all eyes were on Dave Finnell, the Corporation’s trumpeter. He stood like a Praetorian guard, stage left, sounding off with energetic scales.
Kastles Stadium sits right at the Wharf, as the tidal basin pours out into Potomac River and the Washington Channel. The cool air from the water brought the crowd to a simmer as Sleepy Wonder marched on stage wearing infantry gear and spitting out rapid-fire vocal antics. His onstage presence was an entrée to surprise guests See-I, who pounced on stage to a thunderstorm of whistles, cheers and other reveling.
See-I is one of the newer members of the Thievery family. You couldn’t tell because guys fit the mold so well and yet shine with their singular style of DC dub. The duo, brothers Rootz and Zeebo, have a natural allure to their fans. It was almost operatic: they leave, then they come back. The opera doesn’t have one ending or exit. This is something the duo knows how to manipulate, and the band, like family, is the support system that keeps them all playing.
Be reminded, Garza and Hilton aren’t just laptop musicians. Both guys broke from their deejay detail to play along with the rest of the band and vocalists. And they are not out of their element. They achieve something that surpasses the charm of the band. They make the Thievery experience tangible and communal.
As Thievery, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton have created an institution in DC that operates like a traveling party. The crowd is just as much a constituent as all the band members and singers. No two shows are the same. In 1995, at Dupont’s Eighteenth Street Lounge, Garza and Hilton established a collective so in-tune with American themes of globalism that they’re now an operation that could never expire. The District thrives with music, and the Corporation harvests the best of it, and preserves it. Needless to say, Thievery Corporation is instantaneous history—constantly in the making.
Photo Credit: Lauren Jaslow, Snarky Studios
