Photo by Savannah Rake
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band (DDBB) and Soul Queen of New Orleans Irma Thomas took the audience on a trip to Louisiana at the New Orleans Soul & Brass Party Saturday night in their something-for-everyone, satisfying double-bill performance.
The crowd at the beautiful and laid-back Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum North Garden was a mix of Savannah culture. Older Savannah Blue Bloods who talked about fur coats and earmuffs shared the space with SCAD students and young professionals who discussed the different breweries present at the event and their latest thrift store finds.
It was immediately clear that DDBB doesn’t play the kind of music that you enjoy sitting down. Their first song opened up the party and the dance floor, and the audience began to come to life and move to the sax and trumpets. The band ended with a standing ovation had the packed out crowd not already been standing and dancing to the music.
When Soul Queen Irma Thomas came to the stage with all the fuss and flourish a Queen of Soul deserves, she brought both the party and the romance with her mixed set of heart, soul and plenty of ballads.
It was easy to see how Thomas has managed a career that has spanned over six decades when she commanded the stage with a feeling of expression so touchable and accessible that everyone in the crowd felt her songs too. She was quiet and understated in her movements, but wow she could belt out those notes.
It’s hard to believe that in all those years this was Thomas’s first time playing a show in Savannah. One thing is for certain, all of Saturday night’s performers gave a show that left the audience hoping that they don’t wait so long to come back again.
If you have yet to make it out to one of the events, have no fear. The Savannah Music Festival continues through this coming Saturday, April 4, with what promises to be an interesting mix of acts with a little bit of something for everyone.
Tickets for the festival are on sale from the Savannah Box Office, and make sure to keep an eye out for discounted Student Rush Tickets if — like most of us — you find yourself on a budget.