G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE LIVE!! | CATS CRADLE
G. Love & Special Sauce made a stop by the historical Cat’s Cradle in NC for their 30th anniversary tour on 02.08.24. We were given the opportunity to cover this incredible show which not only celebrated 30 years since the release of their first self-titled album release from 1994 but also to celebrate the incredible legacy this group has left on the music world. I remember buying the celebrated self-entitled album in 1994 when I was in high school after hearing “baby got sauce” on a local college radio station in Boston Mass. I went to our local Newberry Comics and record store later that week and picked up my own copy of that new release. The album featured some other great classic G.Love songs such as “Blues Music”, “Walk to Slide”, “Cold Beverage” and many others. That album was my, and many others, first introduction into this musical style that brought a laid-back compositional production element of musical fusion between blues/jazz/rock and soul music, that would eventually change the musical landscape of that decade. Most, if not all albums of that decade had a very highly polished and sometimes almost over produced element to them, but, G. Love brought something new and different to the forefront. To this day it is still one of my favorite albums.
The album cover from their 1994 self-titled debut. This image is basically icon!
Now lets talk about the show!
G.Love & Special Sauce came out to a very excited crowd filled with people of all ages ranging between 12 years old to 60 years old. Seeing this blend of people filling the venue just shows how much their music is still impacting people today. When G. Love hit the stage, everyone clapped and was excited to see him. He sat on a stool that was placed up front to the right of the stage. He took a moment to smile at the crowd before going into their first song. This particular show that we covered felt like an intimate raw private show and not an over produced, highly energized piece of stage candy. You felt like you were just hanging out with the group and singing along with some of your favorite classic songs. G. Love would get up from sitting on occasion and walk around the stage and even walk right up to the front part of the stage while playing guitar. You could see the entire crowd bopping their heads feeling and embracing the music while singing along. G. Love sounded great as did the band.
This performance felt very nice and sounded really good. As a fan of this group myself, I enjoyed the more personal level of engagement and relaxed performance style of this show because you felt more in-tuned to the music being played. This is a tour you don’t want to miss if you are a G. Love fan but even if you have never heard of the group, I still believe you should go out and see one incredibly talented musical legend perform some funky songs.
Chris Sturk
