I always feel a little weird going into Hamer Hall – it could be the uppity geriatrics you always get there or perhaps there’s latent feelings of tension from high school where we’d go in to see some Shakespearean thing or another and the teachers were constantly hissing at you to shut it. The audience which flocked to see deep soul/funk/jazz legend Bobby Womack, however, were so varied I forgot all about the Hall’s usual vibe.
The 69-year-old Womack had himself a 13-piece band, whose two percussionists started with a big bloody bang. We knew right away this was going to be killer. Bobby minced out in this leather suit, hooting ‘yeah, yeah’, his voice totally rich with a vibrato that actually flutters between full notes. Amazing.
Across 110th Street came early on, with the pork pie drummer full of strength and the dishy horn section stepping time together. Womack left some of the melody up to his totally capable trio of sassy back-up singers towards the end of the song, and I wondered whether his frailty was being cleverly eclipsed a bit by the incredibly tight band.
Womack then announced he was going back in time, and the keys player did some through-the-looking-glass arpeggios while the percussionist went mental on the chimes. There were quite a lot of chimes throughout the set, to be honest. Maybe more chimes than I’m comfortable with. Anyway, like some sort of professional Vegas show there was no real banter between songs but rather sensual stage chatter while the intro to the next song started pumping out. It was more in the ballads where Womack shone – he didn’t have to stretch his voice but its gorgeous timbre came out.
The Bravest Man in the Universe, from the 2012 album of the same name, was so great: a sassy, full-throated, unhurried groove of warning. With the brass belting out it truly sounded as if it belonged on a Bond soundtrack. Unfortunately some of Womack’s interjections into the horn sections solos sounded forced, like he was trying to keep our attention (which was totally unnecessary). After a few Christian-themed sing-a-longs (“I think I hear the rattling of a collection plate,” said Monsieur Obscure) Womack made a slightly weird exit, with his gofer running after him holding out his jacket and the mic. The primary back-up singer came forward with her giant voice to bring the show to a close.
BY ZOË RADAS
LOVED: The band are obvs top of their game, excellent stuff.
HATED: Hamer Hall staff are so stuffy.
DRANK: Crownies.
