The Fabulous Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings

Jason and I attended the Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings show at the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas Thursday night. We were absolutely blown away by the performance. It was as if we witnessed the female lovechild of Sam Cooke and James Brown on stage.

We arrived at the Palladium during the opening band performance. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. They were, well, not for me. I recognized a few songs that I was not impressed with on the radio either but I was there for Ms. Jones and her Kings, not the opening band. However, there was a middle-aged gentleman in a plaid button down and acid washed jeans that sure seemed to enjoy himself during their performance.

Not long after Grace Sequins and Her Jason Schwartzman Wannabes packed it up did the Dap Kings begin to make their way out onto the stage. All the epitome of cool, they came onstage – all swaggar, they picked up their instruments and started the show.

A song or two of their own and they gave Ms. Jones a well-deserved introduction.

From the moment she stepped onto the stage, she had the crowd wrapped around her finger. Short in stature, she possesses more soul than a woman, or man, twice her size. She belts it out, she swings her hips, and moves across that stage in a way that makes Beyonce look like a tiny kitten. She owned that room. I was sold after the first song.

Each song was a bit different from what you find on her albums but I did not mind. The improvisations and soulful breakdowns kept people dancing throughout the show. The band was tight and the trumpeteer was a delight to watch.

The songs ran the gamut from the soulful “Mama Don’t Like My Man” to the crowd pleasing hit “100 Days, 100 Nights”. Each one was a crowd pleaser though, as she shimmied and shook, while her sequin dress (much cooler than that of Ms. Potter’s) flipped each and every way.

Jones began the show by bringing one young man on the stage with her as she seductively, yet playfully sang to him. This was matched by a slew of other young gentlemen being pulled on stage. The greatest moment may have been the dozen or so women she pulled up during “How Do I Let A Good Man Down”. From pole dancing wannabes to one redhead who just wanted to break it down with Ms. Jones, this was perhaps the most entertaining impromptu performance of the evening.

Several members of the audience gave some entertaining performances as well. The inebriated couple next to us would clap, once, and then practically fall over. They sang all the lyrics to a song and then, not two songs later, the man asked the woman if she ever heard this band before. Quite entertaining.

Although plaid shirt man and the party twins kept us quite entertained, my ultimate favorite was the man, probably enjoying some recreational drugs, that looked very similar to Aaron Eckhart’s long haired character in the movie “Erin Brockovich”. At one point he danced himself right into Jason and then proceeded to just stare right into my eyes for a good 10 seconds.

Not one moment did I feel cheated in the ticket prices or disappointed that I would only have five hours of sleep after the show. I had a blast. This was the most fun I’ve had at a concert in quite some time. If you ever have the chance to see Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, jump on it.

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