Bowery Ballroom Presents: Pokey LaFarge
May 6th
Late evening. Get to Bowery Ballroom about 30 minutes after the show has started and I need to shuffle a fast one to get the tickets, a drink and a good spot.
The Ballroom is elegantly sprawled up with great curtains hung beside a glowing stage. Ballroom is an apt name for the venue. As for the crowd, it strikes me that half the people there at least in their 40’s. This gives me a bit of a grin as it’s relieving that older folks are still interested in new music and for coming out to the town on shiny Wednesday nights.
Pokey and his band finally step out to great applause. Given their dress, it looks they could have come straight from the 80’s. The 1880’s that is. The two guitarists are donned in old torn burlap overalls. The trumpeter in his funny commodore hat. Pokey himself is dressed like an old cowboy Buster Keaton. He comes out snapping and the band goes into tune that sounds like old ragtime 30’s-era classics.
His entire band is extremely talented and all take their turn to solo on saxophone, trumpet, guitar, harmonica and stand-up bass. Pokey’s music is barely of this century. It is not a vintage call back, it feels more like an episode of the History Channel on the Prohibition era. He takes retro sound to a whole other level. I feel like I’m in an old speak easy dance hall party and I boogie like so.
Old is the feeling I keep summoning throughout this show. But Pokey spins an entirely modern and fresh needle with his youthful exuberance and dancey vibes. The entire audience is dancing on down whether they want to or not. Pokey ends with a gentle duet that he sings with his saxophone player (did I mention how talented his whole band is?). He tips his cowboy hat at the crowd like a true Southern gentleman and leaves me hungry for some fried chicken.
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