Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings

photos via lost in concert 

Last night Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings took the stage at Chicago’s Vic Theatre.  The band is one that I’ve heard a lot about, and makes me sound cooler than I am because when someone brings them up, I know parts of their bio and discography from the press releases I read, but not enough from the albums that are sent to me or the shows that I don’t always make.  There was a ton of stuff going on last night including shows from B.o.B., Ludacris, Diamond D (which I also went to and will write about later), and many other shows and parties.  When I got a reminder earlier this week that I had a plus one waiting for me at the SJDK concert, I made myself go to the show and decided I would be doing myself a personal and professional disservice if I let this band come and go again without seeing them live.  I wanted to make Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings a band that I had actually seen and experienced, rather than one I read about, got some free music from and casually knew as a “cool and artsy band to know so you can sound cool and artsy.”  That’s no diss to the band at all, rather it is a diss to me and the way that I sometimes McDonald’s my way through new music, which seems to come at a never ending speed all ending up, somehow in my inbox.  Ahhh, except the music that sometimes goes to my junkbox…

I knew that the show would be well attended.  I’ve never gone to a concert at the Vic that has not been sold out.  And while I’ve only gone to four concerts at the Vic, I still should have known what I was getting myself into if I was to show up late.  Nevertheless I failed to get there any earlier than an hour after the start time.  I missed the Heavy, and when I finally reached the Vic, The Dap Kings were just taking the stage and getting it warmed up for Ms. Sharon Jones. There were people in every seat, occupying every inch of the standing room only section, and standing on all available couches.  As Sharon Jones emerged from the curtain, I scrambled from aisle to aisle trying to find the right window of necks and heads that would allow me to catch the show.  I finally found a good spot stage left and towards the back, and Sharon Jones’ energy, her incredible voice, and uncanny timing from The Dap Kings reached me with no problems at all.  

Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings

When I woke up this morning the first I did was google Sharon Jones’ birthday, which I found to be May 4th 1956.  I found that surprising, since from where I was standing at the Vic, she could have passed for not a day older than 25.  Jones commanded the stage, bouncing, bobbing, weaving, strutting, and dancing throughout the band’s near 90 minute set.  She invited audience members up at random times during the show, making them the subjects of her songs and unleashing scathing words of revenge as well as those of temptation while challenging them to give her the energy back in return.  At the end of her set Sharon Jones invited 15 women on to the stage.  They danced and backed her up for what would be one piece of the show’s grand finale.  The  real finale was their exit from the stage in which they danced their way back into the audience.  It was a statement from Jones, who seemed to love the interaction, but also made sure that she showed everyone why the stage was hers, and all others else was just visiting.

Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings

My favorites from her set were “Better Things To Do”, “100 Days, 100 Nights”, “Money”, “I Learned The Hard Way”, and “She Ain’t A Child No More”.  When Jones said goodbye to the capacity crowd she remarked, “we love you Chicago.  And it seems you love us too.”

Correct indeed.