Lettuce and GZA chilled out the crowd on a cold winter evening at The Sound.
On Wednesday January 22nd, the improvisational funk band Lettuce and legendary Wu-Tang Clan rapper GZA brought a unique combination tour to The Sound San Diego. The Get Up Tour features a brief set by both bands, with GZA then joining Lettuce as his backing band to perform the 1995 album “Liquid Swords” in its entirety. Located adjacent to the Del Mar Racetrack, The Sound which holds about 2000 fans, was the perfect intimate setting to see this interesting pairing of artists. Not to be overly repetitious, but the sound at The Sound was quite good, with a lovely speaker system and big subs and a very impressive acoustic treatment to the existing facility. Both bands sounded huge on this night, with insane drumming and bass playing on display throughout the evening from some extremely talented players.
GZA and his band The Phunky Nomads were on point and sounded awesome opening up the show. The veteran rapper’s flow was on fire as he dropped lyric after lyric interweaving rhythmic ideas and playing against the powerful musicians in his backing band. GZA’s lyrics are complicated stories, often described as cerebral, and as he delivered the lines seemingly impossibly fast live, it was easy to get caught up in the rhythms of his verses and miss out on some of the intricate detail of his rhymes. The rapper who is famously known as ”The Genius” not only helped found the Wu-Tang Clan but has also lectured at Harvard and MIT. He certainly seemed happy to be back in Southern California for this show and interestingly enough took time out of his set to sign merchandise for fans in the front row. Hats, vinyl records, and shoes were seen being tossed onto the expansive stage from the audience.
Lettuce took the stage to perform after a brief GZA set to great applause from the packed crowd. Their powerful instrumental music is always fantastic, and this night was no exception. Part funk, part rock, and part jam band Lettuce is tough to define, but they always play a mean groove. Bassist Erick E.D. Coomes, drummer Adam Deitch, and guitarist Adam Smirnoff were in absolute sync and powerfully playing locked together in the music. Their performance live is so fluid it looks deceivingly effortless, with each musician adding to an incredible overall sound.
After GZA came out onstage to start performing Liquid Swords with Lettuce, perhaps being the first night of the tour, all the artists all seemed to take a few minutes to get back into sync. GZA ended up calling on some of the Phunky Nomads to help out onstage which seemed to get things back on track. This special set was the obvious highlight of the evening with most fans in attendance really there to see the album performed live. Lettuce with their powerful rhythm section and diverse musicality made a fantastic accompanist for GZA’s legendary album. Overall, the show came together well, and it was a treat to see both of these talented acts performing back in San Diego.
