SOULIVE + Peter Santiago @ La Tulipe

By Döc Holidæ - Phantastiq Cypha - 09/26/2007

My review of the Soulive show begins with me DJing a Loyola event and playing one of the tracks off their new album, No Place Like Soul. From the reaction of the crowd and the sheer good music, I knew this was a band worth checking out. Within a few weeks, I found out that Soulive would be performing at La Tulipe on September 27^th and so I bought tickets for the show. La Tulipe is not the largest venue, but has one of the best set-up concepts: keeping things simple. The floor and tables are separated by steps so that those who choose to be as close as possible can do so, and those who want to sit with their date can relax and have a drink. In my case, I did the latter and the setting made for an intimate evening of great music.

Peter Santiago started off the night as the opening act, giving everyone a chance to find their comfort zone. I found myself sitting in front of the sound engineer and laughing with Peter as he explained the trials and tribulations of opening up for Soulive and preparing for his new album, which he labeled as “baby making music.” I’m not sure how he came to that conclusion; it’s not something he could really test himself, but the fact that he really believed it was what made the performance all the more interesting. Cee-Lo’s soulful album, Closet Freak: The Best of Cee-Lo Green the Soul Machine, played for most of the intermission, which in my opinion, fit perfectly with the mood of the night (my date, however, may have had another opinion of my singing along to everything).

As we ordered our last round of drinks, Soulive made their way to the stage and just went straight into performing. Neal and Alan Evans, with their long-time partner-in-crime, Eric Krasno, performed numerous instrumental tracks that I cannot give names to, mostly because they never introduced the songs. However, there was no need for names with these songs. Eric pulling those lethal guitar solos and Alan hammering away at those three keyboards was enough to just make you love the tune and buy the album, which I ended up doing. At one point while Eric was playing, I was convinced his soul was trying to escape and he could only keep it in check by performing his heart out. The energy and passion in his face while he was playing just said it all.

After a few more instrumental tracks, the band introduced Toussaint, the most recent addition to Soulive. Originally an instrumental jazz and soul trio, the band expanded to add a vocalist on their latest release. Listening to Toussaint makes it hard to think of any Soulive song without lyrics because the dynamics works so well. With songs like “Waterfall” and “Don’t Tell Me,” you really get a feel for what they mean when they say “no place like soul.” On that same note, when you listen to their live performance of “Bubble” you can’t even imagine someone trying to sing over it because it’s so beautiful the way it is and to change it would be a crime.

Soulive’s performance that night was one of the best shows I’ve seen this year…and it will be pretty hard for another band to outdo them.

Soulive and guest Peter Santiago get a Category 4 Storm Watch.

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