St. Paul and the Broken Bones surprises at Egg
Paul Janeway of Birmingham, Ala., outfit St. Paul and the Broken Bones is a legend in the making. At first glance, the somewhat stock y, unassuming white dude in spectacles doesn’t conjure up the image of a soul sing ing superstar. But once he and his band take the stage, it ’s tr uly a thrill.
Such was the case Wednesday night when St. Paul and the Broken Bones played the Egg. The 90-minute set highlighted Janeway ’s f lamboyant personality and phenomenal voice, as well as the dynamism of the sevenpiece ensemble.
Janeway hit the stage in all black, except for the glitter y golden cape (think wrestling legend Macho Man Randy Savage’s entrance gear, circa 1984) that he would twirl as he sashayed, boogied, pranced and preened across the stage. Upon Janeway ’s arriva l at center stage, the band launched into the funked-up disco-f lavor of “Livwithoutu.” On the next song, the Southern soul joint “Flow With
It ( You Got Me Feeling Like),” Janeway utilized his falsetto and showed off his nimble footwork nailing James Brown’s patented James Brown shuf f le.
“Grass is Greener ” was an Otis Redding-solomon Burke style bawler. It was an outstanding exhibition of Janeway ’s ability to switch his vocal deliver y between crooner and belter. But ta ken within the context of the show, it also highlig hted the band’s ability to seamlessly switch from the tight, borderline electro-funk of the opening song to the grimy Muscle Shoals sound of the 1960s and early ‘70s.
St. Paul and the Broken Bones’ recent studio work is immaculately produced, g iv ing the g roup’s sound a modern sheen. In the live setting, that veneer is gone, replaced by an organic, brawny g roove. This was best exemplified by two songs.
“Gotitbad” has a melody that echoes the
Bee Gees’ 1977 hit “Night Fever.” But the brothers Gibb never sounded like a musical freight train tearing down the track. St. Paul and the Broken Bones did. Janeway howled and shrieked while the band managed to be simultaneously g roov y and pummeling. The same concept followed on the Chic-inspired “Apollo.”
The encore began with a cover of Prince’s “Controversy.” It was awesome, relatively straightfor ward and answered the previously unasked question of what it would be like if the Bar-kays backed Prince. For a follow-up, Janeway led them through a rousing ta ke of the “Soul Man”-indebted “Call Me.” The evening wrapped up with “Broken Bones and Pocket Change.”
The mid-tempo number ser ved as another showcase for Janeway ’s vocals and dramatic f lair. After walking through the audience for the first verse, he dragged an eig ht-foot ta ll ladder onto the stage and sang from atop it for the remainder.
Hip-hop/neo-soul duo & More opened the show with a too-long, 45-minute set. The pairing of male MC Chill Moody and female singer Donn T had moments of brilliance, but still sounded like a work in progress. Moody is a decent rapper, but he overrapped, often going over and drowning out Donn T. When both vocalists had the space to do their thing, they were quite good. Hopefully that ’s something that gets straig htened out as the g roup continues to develop. distant from Broadway,” Mcmahon said. “That is where they should really be going.”
Rohan sa id employees understa nd t hat pa rk ing on Broadway is inappropr iate because she ag rees t hat t hose spots should be reser ved for customers. She sa id most employees a lso don’t mind walk ing a few block s f rom t heir ca r to work, but because most work for minimum wage, t he possible $15-a-day fee at t he ga rage would be too much.
“People who ( get) minimum wage cannot pay $10 a day for parking,” she said.
She provided her petition to the Downtown Business Association with hopes that it can intervene. She also tried to g ive the petition to Mayor Meg Kelly, whom Rohan said declined to ta ke it. Outgoing Commissioner Martin, however, did accept a copy of the petition, she said.
Rohan said she doesn’t want to cause trouble with the city or the City Center of f icia ls.
“I want it to be recog nized as a problem a nd let ’s see what we ca n come up with as a solution,” Rohan sa id.
“It a f fects ever yone on Broadway.”