The crowd at Milwaukee?s Summerfest in 2001 included a drunk college guy who thought it was okay to do his business on other concertgoers? flip-flops. Again at Summerfest in 2002, the horde featured a frizzy-haired blonde who caused a ruckus — and didn?t even know whose concert she was at.
Despite feisty and somewhat obnoxious audiences, something overrode their power: the amazing and versatile music of G. Love and Special Sauce. Undoubtedly, G. Love will bring this same talent to a pleased and probably intimate crowd Saturday at the Memorial Union Theatre. Despite the fact that this year?s show falls on the night of the nation?s most fabulous of fright fests, G. Love?s sultry blues and quasi-rap is sure to deliver funky fun to all the loyal fans who attend the show.
G. Love and Special Sauce, a Philadelphia-based trio, is comprised, appropriately, of G. Love (real name Garret Dutton) and his Special Sauce, Jeff Clemens and Jim Prescott. While G. Love himself contributes his smooth voice and skills on the harmonica and guitar, Clemens and Prescott complete the unusual sound on drums and upright bass.
This concoction provides opportunities for flexibility and freshness that anyone can enjoy — especially those with short attention spans. The band can, within a few bars, move from the twangy guitar of country to the harmonic voices of reggae to to the lyricism of hip-hop. And while this may sound like a ridiculous juxtaposition, the band has the ability to make it always sound cool.
An everlasting and pleasing characteristic of the band, though, is that despite its popularity among some college communities, it has yet to gain mainstream status, a baffling fact in many respects. For instance, G. Love recently appeared on stage with indie-darling Ben Harper at a Jack Johnson concert in L.A. While Harper and Johnson?s collaboration has been recognized by fans, MTV and radio, the Johnson-G. Love endeavor ?Rodeo Clowns? has not brought G. Love any further into focus.
The track appears not only on Johnson?s album Brushfire Fairytales but also on several of G. Love?s five albums. Speaking of which, G. Love recently topped off the band?s near-decade of hip harmony by releasing a greatest-hits album, which dropped in late spring.
However, the closest the band got to having a massively recognized song was ?Cold Beverages? off its third album Philadelphonic, an eternal favorite of both fans and first-time listeners, which had a video spinning in low rotation on MTV.
The final contributing factor to the enigma of G. Love?s lack of popularity should be the least important but is, in reality, the most important: G. Love is not a bad-looking guy. And he definitely rolls with the trends. During the Philadelphonic years and earlier, G. sported bright blazers and fedoras, paralleling the ?Swingers? phenomenon of ?95-?96. At his summer 2002 concert, he was clad in a beater, a red bandana and black track pants — Eminem much?
But in ?95 he wasn?t spouting out ?Zoot Suit Riot,? and this year he?s never heard whining about life in tha projects. While he went from lounge singer to ghetto fabulous, the music has stayed the same eclectic mix of beats and blues.
G. Love definitely sticks to what he knows best, though — his ladies (or, as he says, sweet babies), his liquor (he likes his cold beverages) and his layups (basketball is a common theme). Of course, in his lyrics, G. constantly gives big ups to the Sauce who lays down the phat sounds in the background.
G. knows how to please the crowd with all the favorites — ?Cold Beverages,? ?Baby?s Got Sauce? and ?76ers,? an anthem to his hometown hoops heroes — but leaves out Allen Iverson.
So, if you?ve realized that Halloween always sucks, and you?d rather not prance around State Street in tights all night, come in from the cold and enjoy the warmth of the Union Theatre, where G. Love and Special Sauce will be lighting up the stage like a volcanic eruption this Saturday night.
G. Love and Special Sauce plays the Wisconsin Union Theater this Saturday. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
