Music

[Life Is Beautiful 2014]

Life Is Beautiful: St. Paul & The Broken Bones bring the soul

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Life Is Beautiful: Day 3
Spencer Burton
Jason Harris

All you have to do to understand how good St. Paul & The Broken Bones were is look at how they closed their set. It takes a lot of chutzpah to take on Otis Redding’s “Try A Little Tenderness.” Others have tried, but if you’ve ever heard the Otis version from Live in Europe, you know it’s basically impossible to live up to that standard. St. Paul & The Broken Bones broke through, leaving the audience nothing short of awestruck at the end, after a set full of head-turners.

If all you did was hear lead singer Paul Janeway, you would likely be surprised the first time you saw him. Janeway is a chubby, suit-wearing white guy who sings soul like he’s got Redding’s or Solomon Burke’s blood coursing through his veins. His backing band includes a trumpeter, a trombonist and a pianist, along with the traditional guitar, bass and drums setup. The band is fit and ready as it must be to keep up with Janeway’s incredible voice.

The entire set showed off Janeway’s throaty, Southern-twanged vocal weaponry. “Call Me” and “Grass Is Greener” were both standouts.

And then came “Try A Little Tenderness” which was a perfect homage to Otis. The pace changes, the vocal power and the false endings complete with lively reprises, they were all there.

This was one of the best sets of either LIB fests and left me excited for the day when St. Paul & The Broken Bones return to Vegas, bringing the soul back with them.

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