lost and found

"it sounds like stevie wonder goes to cuba"

as hinted earlier here, opening for daryl hall last night were local favorites jen kearney and the lost onion.

WOW

the anonymous reviewer on cd baby who suggested they sound like "stevie wonder goes to cuba" didn't get it wrong. latin rhythms, soul cadences, and a true connection with their home audience gave their "warm up" act the full heat of a headline show. somewhere a couple of songs past what would have, should have been the cut-off for an opening band, (they kept checking--"can we do one more?"), with the audience in full flow and love all over the room, the park service organizers gave jen the nod to deliver one more tour de force.

maybe it was the enthusiastic audience member's shout of "ARETHA", and clearly her band had to talk her into doing it either way, and i swear she asked them all four or five times not to give up their spots in the spotlight while the audience was on its feet, but they knew what ought to be coming, and they knew it was the right way to end their evening, and so they insisted.

and so, with just a single keyboard and spot, alone onstage with only her voice to carry her through, jen kearney delivered one of the most stirring renditions of aretha franklin's dr. feelgood it's ever been my privilege to experience.

if anyone ever finds even a bootleg cell phone video recording of that performance, they need to send me the link. jen kearney and the lost onion ROCK!

until then, here's a link to the band they opened for last summer, los lobos, singing "let's go" right from the boardinghouse park stage. and then, because you know you want it, a taste of J(k) LO from the same night. or two. (ya gotta love the park rangers in uniform introducing all the acts!)

in addition to rocking the old court during the lowell folk festival, jen hooks up with melvern taylor at the lizard lounge in cambridge on august 28th for a night where the soul of lowell meets its ukelele heart. bee they-ah!