After wrapping up my September Goose run on Friday at the Greek, I had the amazing fortune to see Snarky Puppy last night in Long Beach – it’s such a treat to have one of my other favourite bands play in the same area on an open date.
It’s always kind of a culture shock going from a jamband show to Snarky, and last night’s gorgeous 3,000-seat theatre could not have had a more different vibe than the last run of shows. The demographic was much more diverse – there were kids younger than me all the way through older couples – and the sit-down atmosphere made me take in the show a different way than when I’m standing and dancing (though I would of course have preferred to be up and moving).
In addition to catching an incredible Snarky Puppy set, virtuosic duo DOMi & JD Beck opened up the night, performing 40 minutes of some of the craziest instrumental music I’ve ever heard, DOMi in particular melting my brain as I tried to figure out how she could play keys so fast while using her left hand and sometimes feet to act as the bass. The duo’s quirky sense of humour between songs only added to the fun, and their ear-to-ear grins made it evident that they were excited to be there.
When it finally came time for Snarky’s set, I held onto hope that the setlist would pull from more than just the Empire Central era of their vast catalog – in the six previous shows I had seen them, only a handful of older tunes had made it into the setlist. Luckily, last night crossed two chases off my list as well as a couple more tracks I had been hoping to hear again.
Drummer Nikki Glaspie and bassist Michael League began the set with a cool groovy intro, making it unclear for a second what song it would be (I thought maybe “GØ”) before League cued the band to launch into the rocking “Bet.”
A great way to get things going, trumpeter Jay Jennings took the first solo with some punchy runs, leading to a ripping finish by violinist Zach Brock.
Wasting no time, the band eased into “While We’re Young” next (this is where I yelped in excitement a bit) for one of my highlights of the night. Trumpeter Mike “Maz” Maher was up to bat on this solo section, and he opted for clean tones with a huge helping of jazzy flavour. Multi-instrumentalist Justin Stanton darted around the solo’s riffs on Rhodes and piano, engaging in some amazing interplay through the slinky groove.
Things deepened with the entry of keyboardist Bobby Sparks into the fray, adding some grimy clav chords as Glaspie pushed forward around League’s incredible fills. Guitarist Bob Lanzetti then lit up the ending with some soaring slide work.
My second first-time-heard of the night came next with “Bad Kids to the Back,” a Stanton-composed tune from Immigrance that he opted for a rare trumpet solo on. This was a continuation of a distinctly jazzy theme as the solo continued, Sparks adding some excellent comping and volume-swell tones on organ underneath. Glaspie picked things up in the second half and demolished the solo, her pounding and aggressive drumming style perfect for this song.
League took a moment to welcome the crowd and note that Glaspie was playing three songs for the first time ever during the set – though it seems that he forgot that “WWY” and “Bad Kids” were both played on the closing night of their fall 2023 tour. This statement did make me excited, however, because it meant that there was more older material coming in the set. Hooray for setlist variation!
“Honiara” kicked off next, the Brock composition leading to a simmering bass solo by League ahead of saxophonist Bob Reynolds gliding over the outro with his trademark buttery-smooth tone, leading into Empire Central standout “Trinity.” Chris Bullock took the first section on sax (augmented by mind-blowing comps from Stanton on keys) before Lanzetti lifted us up through the ending.
As the intro to “Tarova” came out, Sparks took his sweet time on organ, quoting multiple songs much to League’s joy – there’s something truly amazing about watching how much fun the bassist has on stage. Maz was up to bat once again for the solo, this time opting for distorted wah. Breaking things down with the drums, Sparks once again made his presence known with some chunky clav, colouring the space ahead of the song’s conclusion and a whirlwing percussion solo from Nate Werth.
Cooling things down with “Belmont,” Stanton took the lead on a gorgeous Rhodes solo before the band jumped into “Chonks.” Jennings viciously attacked the first solo before it was time for Sparks to take his lone solo of the night at last – going ham on whammy clav during the rocking outro. Once the song proper wrapped up, the keyboardist just kept going, spurring League to call for some modulated hits with Stanton in an atypical ending for the funky tune.
“Shofukan” was called to bring the set to a close, Stanton taking his classic solo as the always-reliable closer ended the performance on a high note. A touching moment came as Sparks threw in a “Bowser’s Theme” tease, an ode to recently-passed keyboardist Shaun Martin.
An encore of “Lingus” wrapped things up, the planned DOMi sit-in sadly not panning out – but Brock’s use of dynamics in the long build was incredibly impressive AND there was not a conversation to be heard in the audience during the quiet part of the solo.
Snarky tour continues with two more shows in SoCal to kick off the week before heading up to San Francisco for a five-show residency at SFJAZZ. I hope to see some more older material make its way into the rotation, and if their last residency at the Miner Auditorium in 2018 is any indication, we’re in for a treat. Catch the 10/4 show from home via a nugs subscriber-exclusive livestream.