ALO
Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010
The Fillmore
Better Than: A Deadheads Anonymous meeting
I don't know how many animals local gents Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO) have liberated lately, but they sure did liberate some butts at the Fillmore last night. Those moving rear ends were attached to people who must've been in fragile health, because they consumed a mighty quantity of what I had to assume was medicinal marijuana.
Knowing ALO's reputation as a jam band, I expected a crowd thick with citizens of the Wookie Nation, but I felt more like I'd happened upon party time at a ten-year college reunion. The venue was filled with hugs and shared greetings between old friends, reminiscent of the atmosphere at shows by one of the older, local jam-type bands - Grapes for Death, or something like that it was called, I forget. They were pretty famous.
A very appreciative crowd enjoyed two sets of danceable tunes at a packed Fillmore. The band was in the midst of its fourth Tour D'Amour, an annual February excursion that incorporates a philanthropic bent. Recent Southern California shows raised money for Haitian relief, and last night was a benefit for San Francisco nonprofit Music in Schools Today. The band is also promoting its new album, the Jack Johnson-produced Man of the World. ALO took the stage to a fanfare of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love," launched into a bouncy version of its own "Hot Tub," and they were off. The quartet played hopeful songs of love, social observation, and good ol' joie de vivre to an audience that couldn't stand still.
Nodzzz
Erykah Badu
Often, Badu pushed her palms out to both sides, as if holding back collapsing walls or stumbling drunk down a hallway.
