Concert: St. Paul and the Broken Bones

The main act! Image found here.

I had never heard of St. Paul and the Broken Bones, but my friend likes them, so she bought tickets for us to see them perform at the 9:30 Club. I like most kinds of music, and this is a great venue, so I thought, "Why not?"

The opening band was the Seratones from Louisiana. The lead singer, AJ Hayes, had amazing energy and great stage presence. She has a great voice and is really fun to watch! She was pretty funny, saying things like, "It ain't rock 'n' roll if it doesn't hurt a little. My grandma taught me that, so you came blame her for all this rebel rousing." It was too bad that the music behind her was so loud: most of the time it was hard to hear the lyrics she was singing. But I really enjoyed watching them and would definitely see them again if they came back to D.C.

And then it was time for the main act! St. Paul and the Broken Bones are from Alabama, and they have a big sound! It's a large soul band, with a brass section and everything. Paul Janeway is the lead singer, and my friend said it best when she described him as a "Pentecostal preacher." He is so passionate and very expressive in both his singing and dancing. He was so over-the-top (in a good way), including his bejeweled shoes! At one point he went into the crowd, and it was like he was parting the Red Sea. The crowd was loving it, and although I couldn't stay for their entire set, I was so pleasantly surprised (since I didn't know what to expect in the first place). I thought they were very talented, and I'd love to see them again sometime to get the full experience.

Make sure to check both of these bands out on YouTube!