Tribal Seeds 2011 Fall Tour – REVIEW

During Tribal Seed’s 2011 Fall tour, they came to Reggie’s Rock Club in Chicago. With them came Harmonation and E.N Young. You can check out out review after the break.

Reggie’s Rock club resides in what is called the “Near Southside” area of the city.  It’s located on State Street between 21st and Cermak Rd, literally just a stone’s throw from Chicago’s Chinatown.  This area is easily accessible by car but I decided that the Red Line El train would be more fun, so after hopping off at the Cermak-Chinatown stop I walked about a block to the venue.  The Reggie’s brand consists of the Rock Club, the Music Joint, and Record Breakers, which is a pretty cool record store I checked out before the doors opened.

After entering the venue I very quickly felt comfortable with the relaxed décor that gave off a cool hole-in-the-wall type of vibe.  The walls had Jack Daniel’s and Jagermeister banners on the walls advertising for the bar at the back of the room.  The stage could definitely be considered small, but I was already impressed with the club and couldn’t wait for things to begin.

Almost immediately after walking into Reggie’s, the music started and E.N Young was already on stage.  I suppose this was due to the doors opening late and the need to keep things on schedule.  The room slowly filled with people as E.N Young, born Ian Allan Young, did his thing and impressed the crowd as someone I would call a solo artist.  Ian’s act consisted mostly of him singing and playing the melodica while everything besides drums were played as backing tracks through the sound system.  The scene was simple with just E.N and a drummer on stage, but the sound was huge and the music was great.  At the end of the night when the show let out I walked out the door only to be face to face with E.N Young.  He handed me a sample CD of his music and I got a chance to shake his hand tell him he did a great job.  After checking out the sampler I recommend giving him a listen, this guy plays a mean melodica.

Harmonation started loading up the stage with all their members and at first I wasn’t sure if they were all going to fit on the little club stage.  This reggae jam band consists of 7 members, including a full brass section with trumpet, saxophone, and trombone.  After Harmonation began I was quick to realize and appreciate their female bass player and the fact that she was able to shred on her guitar while wearing a skirt, but still look cool doing it.  Having these guys play before Tribal Seeds was a great set choice because they quickly brought the energy that was needed to get the crowd dancing.  It seemed that most people there hadn’t head of Harmonation, but that quickly changed and I’m sure a few more fans were gained after this show.  I caught the titles of a few songs, “Live and Let Die,” and their title track, “Harmonation.”  Harmonation also covered the class jam “54-46 (That’s My Number)” by the famous Toots & the Maytals.  Along with the rocking female bass player I could also appreciate the trumpet player wearing his sunglasses the whole show in the dimly lit room, as well as the dancing and energy that singer Russell Kinsey put into being the front man of the group.

By the time the openers were finished the crowd was primed and ready for Tribal Seeds, the headliner for the night and the reason everybody had gathered.  Tribal Seeds kicked off their set with the title track from their new EP, “Soundwaves.”  The album version of this song includes vocals from Rebelution’s Eric Rachmany, but his absence was easily filled by lead singer Steven Rene Jacobo who was also rocking the dark sunglasses all night.  The guys played hit after hit, with each song creating a new amount of energy within the crowd, making for the perfect night.  “All I Know,” “Right On Time,” “Come Around,” and “In Your Eyes” were just a few songs off the great set list.  They also played two of my favorites, “My Garden” and “Vampire,” which I loved, but not as much as their encore of “Love Psalm,” and “Could You Be.”  Tribal Seeds easily brought not only the most energy to the stage that night, but they also brought the most dreadlocks too.  Tribal Seeds is one Cali Roots/Reggae band that will always be welcome in Chicago with open arms from all their fans that truly enjoyed their amazing performance.

Information about the review…
Tour:  Tribal Seeds 2011 Fall Tour
Bands:  Tribal Seeds, Harmonation, and E.N Young
Reviewer:  Michael Nutting
Date:  November 5, 2011
Venue:  Reggie’s Rock Club in Chicago, IL