Saturday marked the end of a long, exciting week. This year's Providence Sound Session came to a close with multiple outdoor stages hosting over 50 acts, hundreds of people, and weather changes from the bible era. The Back Lot hosted two shows. During the day was the well-anticipated Local Hip Hop Showcase, featuring Rhode Island's finest rappers and DJs. The night show was comprised of a variety of bands, including funk, reggae, rock, Mediterranean, and R&B.
DJ Tek and DJ Gallis started the day off just after noon, to a small crowd and an eager crew, setting up tents, bars, and food stands. They began with energy, as if the lot was filled, trading spots, scratching vocal lines and drum fills. Jahpan hosted the event.
The first act of the day literally brought their own crowd. Reziztanze came about 10 people deep, three MC's with at least three others wearing their distinctive red tees with nicknames on the back, plus a small group of women. Once on stage, they were true hype men, physically active, bouncy, interactive with the crowd. Big Rush and Sneaky Pete came next, followed by the always interesting Phoenyx, whose vinyl-only DJ impressed the crowd as he improvised cuts behind the MC. Next, Providence natives and Hip Hop veterans The Blood Lions a.k.a. Jungle Movement boosted the energy of the show. As more and more people filled the lot, crowd favorites Who Dem took the stage, forcing the crowd into ecstasy with the shout chorus "Let's Go!", then pushing them back in amazement with a guest R&B singer. Dance crew Case Closed changed things up with a quick set, and Juan Deuce and show host Jahpan had the crowd bumping for the last set of the Hip Hop show.
North Carolina band The Beast started the night show in style. The keyboard player sported two synthesizers and a Mac running Live to cue loops and samples to play with. The band had a cool Jazz/Funk/Soul style, with an MC who was straight Hip Hop, a great changeover from the previous set. After The Beast, the Back Lot took a break. The next band, Africa Rainbow, had begun setting up when the skies opened up, pouring rain on the crowd that moments before had been basking in the sun. We were set to continue as the soaking wet sound guy began shouting at us as to why the equipment and cables can't sit in 4 inches of water. Needless to say, we turned off anything that used electricity, and hour later with the help of the port-a-potty sucking machine to clear the lot, we were able to continue.
Africa Rainbow brought the crowd back with power, a fair amount of reverb spawned by the band's traveling sound tech, lots of musicians, and a modern singer. They laid the groundwork for the slew of reggae and world musicians to come. Tevellus came next, with their own curious blend of Mediterranean music, rock, and funk. They had one song where an MC/spoken word artist named Infinite came to the stage armed with a mixed up Rubix Cube, and over the course of a verse about time, completed it for a grand finale. The next band, Funktronic, combined complicated guitar and bass rhythms with a solid drummer and funky hand percussionist.
Somerville/Boston based reggae band King I knew just where to hit the crowd. With solid 'riddim' sections, they kept the music moving in new directions all the time. Powerful vocals and flashy drum fills with a solid drop kept the crowd active. A brief set from rap/reggaeton artists Effigy kept the crowd active for the upcoming reggae and dub band. Soulshot, here labeled "Soulshot in Dub" is not new to the Rhode Island scene, but have made their name from Westerly to Providence as the state's premiere reggae band. They sported two fantastic horn players, an amazing rhythm section, a dedicated sound tech, and an auxiliary percussionist, and in all showed proved to be an amazing group of musicians, where most everyone had the ability to sing well in backup and lead spots.
This post cannot be completed without giving much respect to our DJ, part time Emcee, and full time crowd motivator DJ Negus. Spinning Jamaican reggae and appropriately speaking and shouting into the crowd in a style that resembled old school Dancehall but with values and ideas important in today's world between every act kept the show moving at times when it would have screeched to a halt. It's a tall order for a DJ, and he filled it with ease.
The last band that played, in a few words, blew everyone away. The slowly dwindling crowd at the Back Lot had no idea what was in store for them as the night crept past midnight. They couldn't have seen what would was going to happen as 9 people came on stage to play, calling themselves Black Alley. The innocent looking singer walked silently to the microphone before knocking everyone back with her first words. What came out was the tightest, funkiest R&B and soul I have ever heard from a live band. The streets literally began emptying into the lot. The 'dwindling' crowd turned into the largest of the night by the middle of their first song. They kept the party going, and people kept coming, through extended jams and solos, through incredibly badass vocals and amazing renditions of the most commonly heard pop songs. They kept going, in fact, until the police came, literally rushing the stage to shut them down. We had extended past the allowed time for the venue, and the hundreds of people that had collected had no idea they were witnessing the climax of the evening. A perfectly abrupt ending for a band that increased the energy of the city from the first note to their last.
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