This was a fun show. I’ve always had a special fondness for shows in and around the Halloween time frame–there just seems to be something in the air that gives off an extra fun vibe. The Lincoln Theater certainly provided. I hadn’t seen Lettuce in quite some time, so when a drummer friend mentioned the show to me, I was in like Flynn. Even though the show was on a Sunday night, it was packed and Lettuce sounded great. Full funk flavor and tight rhythms. What more could you ask for?

The band was a little slimmed down from the last time I saw them. I may be dating myself here, but no Krasno, no Neal Evans and no more “shady horns” (except for Zoidis). Still, with most of the original lineup intact (Adam Deitch/drums, Erick Coomes/bass, Adam Smirnoff/guitar, Ryan Zoidis/alto sax) the band brought their A game and funked it up all night. The addition of Nigel Hall/keys & vocals has always been well received and newest member, Eric Bloom/trumpet & percussion was definitely a nice touch. The stage was really packed, even with just these six cats, so I don’t know where anyone else would have fit anyway.

While I’m fairly familiar with the Lettuce repertoire, the names of the songs escape me. I do know that the first set was full of material from Rage–one of my favorite albums. I know I heard Makin’ My Way Back Home for sure. I think I also heard Blast Off! (opener?), Sam Huff’s Flying Raging Machine, and Relax. Different from the last time I saw them, there were quite a number of cool new segues in the middle of tunes and some nice connections stringing two or three joints together. They even drifted off into a somewhat cover version of the Curtis Mayfield tune, “(Don’t Worry) If There’s Hell Below…” but it was so subdued I think most of the crowd missed it. The first set was a solid example of how funk music should be performed and I give the guys high marks for sounding so polished.

How about a shout out for two sets!? It seems like most bands would call it quits and head in early on a Sunday night, but Lettuce came to rage. The second set featured some their older joints in the midst of their newer material–which sounds a little more lyrical and cinematic than the earlier albums. Nyack (Outta Here) was definitely a hit with its uptempo driving rhythm. At one point, they played a joint I had never heard before, but was the apex of the night with the crowd. It had some of the absolutely lowest bass frequencies that the club could handle. It was coochie shakin’ if you get my drift. They vamped on this hip-hop groove for quite some time.

The band was incredibly tight from the drop. They moved in and out of the signature Adam Smirnoff/Erick Coomes funk lines and the bass was locked in with Deitch’s kick drum at every step. Also, I hadn’t noticed before, but it sounded like Nigel Hall was doubling many of the bass lines, giving it a cool extra sub effect. Beside the fact that Adam Deitch is just a legendary hip-hop/funk drummer, the band in total really brings funk correctly and you can tell that they are well versed in most of the great 60’s and 70’s styles.

Without Krasno, Smirnoff was taking more leads and he had some tasty vittles here and there. He really is the guitar funk machine behind this group. He vacillates between chunky funk chords, lyrical melody lines and tasty single note funk riffs. The star of the show this night was Erick Coomes. I’ve heard him before plenty of times and honestly wasn’t that impressed. However, this show was different. I don’t if it was just a smaller venue or that he’s been eating his Wheaties nowadays, but in either case he was on fire. It was so fun to watch him, almost Jaco like with his fretboard. Of course, Nigel Hall really holds the band together on keys and vocals and was featured on a number of joints. Finally, both horn players were great; however I could have used more horn solos. Both Zoidus and newcomer Eric Bloom can rip.

A cool edition to this show was the introduction of interspersed midi-looped space jams. I don’t remember this being such a thing back in the day, but they really incorporated this into the material well. Zoidus has some type of midi/loop controller and they were sampling, repeating and tripping out the delays in real time as the songs extended out into uncharted territory. This definitely added a nice almost dub-esque, cinematic vibe to the night. Another fun Lettuce staple is their use of the dragged out, glitchy lines where it sounds like the band is drifting behind the meter, but catch up just in time to the one. I keep hearing this technique with some of the newer school drummers and bands. I like it; I do think it gets overdone sometimes, but here and there it adds a cool flavor.

And that’s what this show was about: Flavor. There are A LOT of funk bands, but few that bring it like Lettuce. They have a unique blend of new school & old school funk that differentiates them from all the other stereotypical funk groups. The songs are creatively written, both harmonically and rhythmically, giving all the players room to showcase their wares. I’m partial to Adam Deitch–I think he brings the group home with his solid (SOLID) rhythmic skills behind the kit. He’s always the one I’m watching. However, this show was fun all the way around. All the players really performed top notch and the set list was very entertaining.

For my first visit to Lincoln Theater, I give it a B+. We got there just in time to score some standing room only spots on the ramp down to the floor. While the sign on the adjacent wall said “DO NOT STAND ON RAMP”, security was cool letting us jam out there as long as we didn’t crowd it up too much. The room itself is nice and there was plenty of space to move around, even with a pretty full up crowd. At some point I’ll have to check out the upper mezzanine level–that looked pretty cool from were I was standing. The only minor rub to the night was the over the top volume. The club is probably 400 seats max and it was just a bit too loud for the room. On top of that, the high end on the mains was just destroyed. It wasn’t too bad until they hit certain frequencies, but the show was so loud that it exacerbated the crackling high end. I had to wear some ear plugs (toilet paper, as always) and my ears were still ringing after the show.

Overall great show–I give it an A. I would highly recommend Lettuce for any fans of live music, especially funk music fans. You don’t even need any extra salad dressing with these guys. Take the opportunity to go seem them the next time they are in your hood and be prepared to funk it up! Maybe bring a few croutons?