On Friday I saw Darondo (myspace) and Nino Moschella (myspace) at the Independent. I heard about Darondo only a week or so ago and I have pretty obsessed and intrigued so I has pretty excited to have a chance to see him.

Nino was about to go on when I got there. I didn’t know his stuff at all, but some of the crowd certainly did and was pretty pumped to see him. He came onto the stage along, sat down at the Rhodes and started a song called, I believe, “If You Believe”. A little cheesy but it had a nice sound and Nino has some decent vocal chops that he showed off.

I should clarify something before I go on. While I’m (sometimes heavily) into soul, early R&B and other such music, I don’t really like funk. I like some soul-funk but not all. I can’t pinpoint what it is–I like rhythm, but the way the bass and drums typically act in funk doesn’t do it for me.

While I’m at it, I’ll make a list. Two things that I don’t really need to see a lot more of:

1. wah pedal
2. talk box

Nino’s band seemed pretty tight and, as I mentioned, he has vocal chops, but overall, I wasn’t too into it. Additionally, the use of the above effects annoyed me.

After a fairly short set (8 songs, I think), Nino brought on Darondo. Nino and his band, with the addition of a couple horn players, acted as Darondo’s backing band.

Darondo came on stage with a silver suit and a straw hat. The man isn’t young anymore and his partially-toothed grin is distinctive to say the lead.

If Nino’s set was short, Darondo’s was even shorter, possibly only six songs long, but I was entertained from the first note to the last. Nino Moschella and his band (and the two horn players) acted as a tight back-up back to Darondo. If there’s any doubt whether Darondo himself can still sing, let me put it to rest: he can. He’s got chops. All those heart-wrenching bends and falsetto coos on “Didn’t I” not only survived but thrived on Friday.

I’d recommend seeing Darondo if you have a chance. It’ll be worthwhile. If you can’t make it to one of (his few) shows, I’d recommending picking up his short but solid album Let My People Go.

View my full photo album online.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 5:18 pm Posted by adrian in SF bay area, lists, live review, photos. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.