January 28, 2019

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Jesus and his homeboys of Lettuce brought the Church of Funk to the Cleveland House of Blues on January 23. Playing a nearly two and a half hour set that included a range of music from their latest album, Witches Stew to classics such as “Do It Like You Do” from Fly. While the crowd was lacking in attendance, it only made ample dancing room for the die-hard fans who showed up and braved the sub-degree temperatures on Wednesday night.

 

The evening was dedicated solely to Lettuce, with no openers. One fan in particular was annoyed that he confused the ticket time of “8:00 p.m.” as the start time for the band instead of when doors open. With the band going on at 9:15 p.m., he knew he was in for a long night after having been up since 4 a.m. for work. But any concern he had instantly faded away as the band took the stage to jam out the first notes of the fan favorite “Reunion” off of 2002’s Outta Here.

“ADAM! ADAM! ADAM!” he kept shouting out to drummer, Adam Dietch. The crowd followed suit, yelling other members’ names, feeling the music and waving their arms in the marijuana-filled air.

 

“This is what this is, a reunion,” said bassist Eric “Jesus” Coomes as the song “Reunion” ended. “You guys are like family, and have been there all these years, and we’re so glad to be here.” If you went to a Lettuce show expecting to sing along, you’d be sorely mistaken. Vocals are not in the band’s repertoire, but let their instruments sing for them. What’s amazing is how deeply into their own separate worlds each member is; from Ryan Zoidis’ sax to Nigel Hall’s keyboards, each guy  played their part perfectly and yet somehow created an intricate universe of feel-good sound for a cold winter night.

 

With a short intermission between sets, Lettuce ended the night with favorite “Move On Up” much to the delight of the crowd who shouted for more, unwilling to face the fact that the night was over, and the warmth of Lettuce’s funk would soon be lost to the chilly Cleveland night.

 

The full set list of the night is found below:

 

REUNION

KHRU

LETTSANITY

PURPLE CABBAGE

LAST SUPPIT

DO IT LIKE YOU DO

TRILLOGY

ROYAL HIGHNESS

GET GREASY

SILENCE IS GOLDEN

INTIMATE FRIEND / FOOTSTEPS

MADISON SQUARE

MOVE ON UP

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Review and photos by Judie Vegh