Fantastic Negrito, Fuzz Solow at the Bunkhouse Friday June 29, 2018

I found out about this show due to Vegas' premier one-man-blues-band, Fuzz Solow, being the opening act. I figured if he was on the bill then the headliner must be interesting so I did a little research on Fantastic Negrito and decided to see what all the hub-bub was about. Being an early show made this all that much more appealing.

Fuzz started the night off to an appreciative audience that were smart enough not to be late arrivers - the club was actually pretty full right from the start. He did his set of funky blues songs about turtles, rivers, and smoke mixed with covers from Howlin' Work, Robert Johnson and Jimi Hendrix (who he was named after). With a splitter/octave pedal filling out the guitar sound, his feet keepin' a drivin' rhythm and Fuzz's natural, bluesy growl of a voice, you really don't miss any other musicians and he has a natural rapport with the crowd, engaging them right from the start. People who whoopin' along and shakin' it up to his blues power! See him when you can!

Fantastic Negrito is another new, mixed-race, soul/rock fusion band, kinda in the style of modern greats like the Heavy and Black Joe Lewis. I had only seen a video or two on You Tube previously so I wasn't sure what to really expect from this combo. The band - guitar, keys, bass, drums - came out first a created a funky groove with a smokin' hot guitar solo and then Negrito arrived, only to immediately have issues with his acoustic guitar. There was a brief problem with the keys, as well, but then things settled into funky jams with plenty of dynamics and semi-Curtis Mayfield-styled vocals on top. Negrito enjoys his monologues, whether they be vaguely political or intensely personal, although lyrically, the songs sometimes miss their mark with me a bit. But overall, the fantastic band - excellent rhythm section, keys that jump from electric piano to Hammond B3 sounds in a second, and guitar that could be funkily clean or hard rockin' heavy - really brings it all home. There were plenty of audience sing-alongs (he does have a good knack for melodies) and they even did a soulful version of the old country folk tune "In the Pines"!

The show was quite enjoyable and they are fun'n'funny, but I didn't leave the show with any of their songs goin' through my head nor with a newly purchased CD. I will keep an eye'n'ear out for them though and see where they go from here.