The Bull Funk Zoo launched its CD last Wednesday with a special performance at Jambase. Given the achievements of many of the band's constituents Hamdan al Abri, Elie Afif, Jeremiah John, Assaad Lakkis and Rami Lakkis (making it a sort of local supergroup), it comes as no surprise that the place was packed, and enthusiasm was high.
There was a lot of fusion funk, and some songs were not funk at all, though the BFZ's members worked well together on whatever genres they were playing. One of the more novel ones from the album was the rock-blues fusion number "Shit House Blues" (first time for me hearing a blues song being growled). I particularly like the playful and very funky "Afterparty (307)" (included in the album as a live performance recording, including the audience participation bits). "Drifter", a funk-rock-reggae fusion song, has a catchy funk-rock progression hook, and funk-rock fusion song "Junk Funk" has nice lyrics with a peppy funk backdrop.
Juliana Down, one of the region's biggest rock bands, kicked off their garage tour this Saturday night with a performance at The Fridge.
The opening act, The Younglings had an energetic indie rock sequence to warm things up, including a few originals. I did not see them on publicity, but the Force was definitely with them.
After a half-hour break, Juliana Down went onstage. By that time, at least 3 camera crews were in place. Guitarist and vocalist Dia Hassan's belted out JD hits in his well-trained voice. Lead guitarist Sari Ramadan (also a founding member) and bassist Andrew Gibson (who joined a couple of years ago) supported with stirring rock strings, and the new drummer Jeremiah John (who also plays the cajon, incidentally) thundered in the percussion.
This is the first show of a tour that will apparently be similar to what The Foo Fighters did a couple of years ago: organizing concerts on fans' driveways and lawns. Hence, a garage tour. I believe this is a first in these parts, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Sponsors Ray Ban, who supported the gig as part of their Envision Series, chucked a bunch of balloons into the air for the crowd bounce about.
If you missed them this time, you can still check them out at their Fridge Concert Series gig next month. Until then, there's the alt rock festival this Friday at The Music Room.
