You just have to dare; filling the set list of your first tour after adifficult Corona lockdown period with almost only songs from your new album,then only came out at the end of September. “It’s unbelievable that you’restanding here for 98 minutes listening to music you don’t know yet. And youguys didn’t even laugh at us,” said Michael League frontman, “Thank you forthat.” Snarky Puppy played her latest album ‘Empire Central’ on Tuesdayevening in a sold-out AFAS Live, almost only dared to play songs, but passedwith flying colors.
As support act, the band brought along Michelle Willis, one of the many actsthat Snarky Puppy frontman Michael League has joined as bassist. Willis isstill unknown in the Netherlands, but that will soon change. The cheerfulsinger won the hearts of the audience in no time with her playing, voice andwitty comments. Rarely has a support act overcame the audience with such ease,partly due to her self-mockery and audience participation. Still unknown,within 3 years at North Sea Jazz. Mark our words.
Michael League had only a little rest between support act and his own band.The musician was on stage enjoying almost 3 hours. And of course the audienceenjoyed it. The choice to fill the set list with relatively unknown music wasa bold move. As a result, the first part of the program, except for opener’Keep It On Your Mind’, was a rather tame start for Puppyan standards. It wasonly after a remarkable moment from part of the audience that the show reallygot going. That embarrassing moment was when League made its opening talkafter “Bet,” recalling their Kytopia-recorded album, “We Like It Here.” Thefact that the album was recorded in Utrecht, the band was (unjustly and can becalled scandalous) ridiculed, which the bassist did not take lightly andcalled on the audience to respect other cities.
The moment was a turning point for the concert, which until then had been abit rough. Slowly, the audience seemed to appreciate the new style of thePuppies more and more and the enthusiasm that fell on the audience visiblyreturned to the stage.
It couldn’t be the top musicians. Each and every one of the best musicians ofthe new generation of jazz musicians. Of course with Snarky Puppy you neverknow who will be on stage. Regular Michael League is of course always there,but otherwise it is always a selection from the decidedly good group ofmusicians that make up the large Snarky collective. This time fortunately withBill Laurance, who failed to attend the last concert of the band, almost 3years ago in Muziekgebouw Frits in Eindhoven during the So What’s NextFestival. The solo on his Fender Rhodes Stage Piano, unfortunately only at theend of the set, was one of the highlights of the concert. In that respect, thePuppies knew where Abraham gets the mustard, because Amsterdam was a goodplace for lovers of solos. Violinist Zach Brock in particular stole the showseveral times with his ripping outbursts that many rock bands can use, butkeyboardist Bobby Sparks II (ex-Roy Hargrove) also regularly managed to getspecial funky tones out of his whammy clavinet and his Hammond B3. .
It is well known that the band consists of old friends from the University ofNorth Texas. However, it was nice to see that even after all these years ofsuccess they have not forgotten their old friends. Trumpeter Phil Lassiterknew the band from 20 years ago, and now that the old band leader of Prince’sNew Power Generation lives in Amsterdam, it was the perfect moment to invitethe old friend for a masterful solo. A bonus for Amsterdam, and the audienceenjoyed it to the fullest.
When the show came to an end, League managed to bend the earlier moment fromthe audience about Utrecht to the hilarity of the non-Amsterdammers. The bandwas introduced, starting with “The from Utrecht” Bob Reynolds, after which, tothe amusement of the audience, the other band members also came from everypossible Dutch city; Enschede, Gouda, Rotterdam, Maastricht, Eindhoven, Leagueput the scorners from earlier in the evening in their place in their own way.It was the beginning of the end of the evening. One that started off slowlylike a diesel of a strange brand, but eventually ended in the euphoric tonesthat only Snarky Puppy can produce.