The Budos Band at Lee’s Palace – April 13, 2014

The warmest weekend of the year climaxed for those at a packed Lee’s Palace last night with the Budos Band returning to town to throw a sweaty party.

Hailing from Staten Island, the Budos Band make a party out of funk, soul, rock, afro-beat and anything else their many members can work into the mix.  The eight guys looked more like a bunch of buddies jamming at the cottage, and at times they seemed to overwhelm the stage.  One woman behind me declared “they all look homeless”.

Actually, they all looked like they were having a great time.  Having released three numbered albums on Daptone Records, the band gave a healthy preview of an upcoming album.  No date was given for its release which follows 2010’s III, but it should be called Burnt Offering, if I heard the title track pronounced correctly.

Centering on a trumpet and Baritone sax which largely play the role vacated by vocals, the Budos party is exceptionally effective making the masses happy.  The crowd was probably the most diverse I’ve been part of in a long time, and all were as enthusiastic as the band.  From both band and audience, there was toasting all-round the entire evening.  Even before the band took to the stage Lee’s Palace was a sauna, but the room stayed full regardless.

The band wasn’t super tight – a couple of songs were a bit on the sloppy side but the evening was such a loose and chill vibe that it would be wrong to make it an issue.  No frilly extras, just some guys clearly having a blast.

If I was to complain, it would be at the audience itself.  Two nights in a row of instrumental bands (I checked out Tycho at the Hoxton Saturday night) has made it clear that unless you melt faces with sheer volume, many audience members will substitute absent vocals with their own inane chatter.  But in the end, the sweaty 80 minutes was the perfect ending to the first nice weekend of the year and a taste of sweaty moments to come.

Thanks to Collective Concerts for media access.