Wolfmother. The Cranberries. Lenny Kravitz. The first thought of these 3 bands playing to the same crowd seemed a bit unusual, but on the evening, it appeared to fit the demographic. Also, Wolfmother and their guitar driven rock and roll, derivative of Hendrix, Zep and Sabbath, to name a few, does sit side by side to what Lenny gives you in an evening. The Cranberries, just back out of the box with a new album fit within the trio of acts more from a chronological moment as they came onto the scene when Lenny was really making a name for himself 20 years ago. This was an old school grouping of rock and roll bands that did work well for a lengthy night of music.
Wolfmother kicked off proceedings at the un-rock and roll hour of 6.30 to a small gathering of photographers in the pit and a not much larger crowd in the still building audience in the Entertainment Centre. Andrew Stockdale, now the only original member of the band, did a lot of finger pointing and waving of his arms, in between singing and playing. “Woman,” “Dimension”, “New Moon Rising” were all played with some level of energy, but I did not notice much crowd engagement except for a handful of people who like what Andrew and his new band of players put forth. A new song was rolled out, “Long Way To Go”, and it is hard to know if Wolfmother will be around for a long time with the line-up changes and news that their third album is also now being delayed. The thought crossed my mind that Mr. Stockdale might want to revisit the career longevity of his band.
The Cranberries were next to be rolled out and the crowd seemed ready and receptive to the 90s rockers being back on stage after a good decade away from the scene. Although they had reunited in 2009 to celebrate Dolores becoming a patron of a Philosophical society in Ireland, they had not recorded any material since Wake Up And Smell The Coffee in 2001. With a pleasant new record, Roses, which covers the style of previous Cranberries output, the crowd tonight was here to listen to the few songs that stayed in their consciousness from the groups heyday. Doloroes (dressed in black and sparkly runners) was joined by founding members the Hogan Brothers (Noel and Mike) on guitar and bass and played a set that included “Dreams”, “Linger” and “Zombie” along with some tracks from their latest release. Well received, the sound was albeit not the best of the evening.
There are so many opinions out there on the music of Lenny Kravitz. Some folks will not go near him because they believe that the music he offers his fans has been done before and he is just reimagining certain periods of music through his song writing. Other folks think his songbook is a bit weak and the songs may be reasonable, but that there are few true memorable ones that stick with you. Then there is that other section of his fan base that is rabid about what he does. Lest we forget, there is that other group within his kingdom that just love to look at him. Face it, Lenny is a stud, and the pheromones were filling the air. No matter where you sit, until you see his rock and roll performance, I don’t think you can make a clear judgement. Actually, there were quite a few people in this last group of fans who clearly could have cared less about the music. No matter, they were in heaven.
Lenny had the crowd in the palm of his hand through the night and it was good to see the Sydney multitude up and out of their seats a lot of the evening. If you liked funk, jazz, psychedelic or just some good ol’ rock and roll Kravitz and his band pushed all the buttons and extended the songs from their original shape into something that made you want to shake that money-maker. From his cover of The Guess Who’s “American Woman” to his well known tracks like “Stand By My Woman”, a remarkable “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over” and a Hendrix drenched “Are You Gonna Go My Way” our ears were filled with powerful rock.
“Black and White America”, his latest release, was given the pure funk work out live. The only sort of trite or weak point were the pictures of him as a child and his interracial parents. The music and the album sort of speak for itself so I found the actual graphics a bit unnecessary. All in all though, it was a great track live and the horns got a marvellous workout. Besides that Craig Ross, who has been with Lenny for about 20 years, has just improved and improved on guitar. Craig has played with The Black Crowes, Spoon, Mick Jagger and others through the years, but being part of Lenny’s band gives him the opportunity to get into every rock and roll riff he has ever wanted to play. Really, could he have been having any more fun being a guitar god night after night?
Lenny wrapped up the night with “Push” from his latest album before launching into one of his best tracks, “Let Love Rule”. Lenny made it clear, in case you did not know already, that he was going to do his trademark co-mingling with his fans during the last track. The females who were not going to be within sweating distance of Lenny made their move so they could touch his tattooed presence. Lenny sang and did a very large circuit of the crowd while the horns and Craig and band let loose for the finale of the Lenny Kravitz rock and roll experience. Lenny may wear his influences like a uniform, but damn, he pulls it off with energy and finesse. What more could you want?
– Paul Busch
