Indy Live Music

You may recall (if you've been following the blog, nudge nudge...) that The Mudkids were one of many opening acts for Bone Thugs N Harmony at The Vogue a couple of weeks ago.  Lets just say that experiencing them onstage alone was a much more pleasant experience.  If you don't already know, The Mudkids are a local independent hip-hop group consisting of Rusty Redenbacher (Lead Vocals) and Elp-Mass (Turntables).  These guys are good - their songs are catchy and they put on a heck of an energetic live show.  Check out their latest EP here:  Mkep.  Go see them live if you get the chance - you won't regret it!

The crowd, mostly made up of 20- and 30-somethings, was definitely excited for Mayer Hawthorne to take the stage.  The standing-room section in front of the stage, while far from vacant during The Mudkids set, filled up quickly.  The guy has quite a following, which isn't surprising given his quick rise to relative fame and the fact that the guy seems to be a bit of a conundrum.  He's a 29-year-old white kid from the suburbs of Detroit who somehow manages to channel the spirit of soul legends like Barry White and Smokey Robinson through his vocals and musical arrangements.  If you close your eyes while listening to him, you can almost picture yourself sitting in a smoky club in the Motown of the 60's.

Mayer Hawthorne, real name Andrew Mayer Cohen, is quite the entertainer.  Even if you weren't into his music, you'd still enjoy the show.  He showed up on stage wearing a shiny red suit, red and black Nike's, and dark plastic-rimmed glasses.  Try as I might - the camera just wouldn't do justice to the brilliance of this outfit.

Mayer's energy in front of the crowd pulls you right in - you can't help but feel a connection to his songs.  He's interactive and unpredictable.  At one point, he asked the audience what their favorite type of music was, listing of a variety of genres and receiving applause as feedback, before breaking into Biz Markie's "Just a Friend".

Some setlist highlights, most from his album A Strange Arrangement:

• I Wish It Would Rain - The first single off the album
• One Track Mind - Motown throwback
• Love Is Alright
• Just Ain't Gonna Work Out - Was the iTunes free single of the week a few months back.  It got over 300,000 downloads.