Bring Back The Days Pt. 2: W. Ellington Felton/Eric Roberson

Saturday night I took an impromptu journey to the Black Cat Club to hear W. Ellington Felton (Dub Ell to those in the know) and Eric Roberson. I 'm a fan of Dub Ell, but had never heard of Eric Roberson, so I decided to roll.

Oh...my...Gawd...Becky!

First off, let me say how I enjoyed the positive atmosphere of the Black Cat (well, where I was, anyway LOL). Not much smoke, people were chill, Buppies were posted up next to Afro-sporting/dreadlock-wearing/natural-hair-having BoHos. Dashikis next to Donna Karan. FUBU next to Fossil. And the bar actually served Reed's Ginger Beer! I'm a fan for life.

Now onto the show...which was treat upon treat!

Dub Ell opened and did a great job! He was showcasing cuts from his current album, Postcards from the Edge. My favorite cuts were "Admit It" and "Postcards From The Edge". There were surprise cameos by Raheem Devaughn (who apparently was late and was called out by Dub Ell about that. Hilarious.) and Eric Roberson, tboth of whom did a duet with Dub, then Dub Ell showcased one of his background singers, Bilal Saleem (who has an album coming out soon). Geno Young was in town for his Sunday night performance (he'll be in part three of my musings), and sang his song "Touch the Sky".

Dub Ell's band was actually a local DC act called YaMama'Nym. The bass player was LIKE THAT, JOE (as they say in DC parlance)!

Oh, and Dub Ell will be having his album listening party/official release on Jan. 31 at Mirrors (33 New York Avenue, DC). $7 with flyer, $10 without.


*We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog entry, already in progress*



There was a break, then Eric Roberson came on to perform.

What can I say...I was in shock and awe...that man can not only sing, but he can PERFORM! He connects with the audience and makes it an experience. He sang cuts from his album The Appetizer and his latest album, The Vault 1.5.

I didn't realize that I'd heard him before until he sang one of my favorite songs of the evening, "The Moon", which WHUR used to keep in heavy rotation back in '94 (yes, I'm dating myself...that was my senior year in college).

I'll love you to the moon and down again
Around the world and back again
I'll love you to the sun and down again
Around the stars and back again
I'll love you to the moon and down again
Around the world and back again
There's no greater love than mine...

BTW: "The Moon" is on The Appetizer. COP IT!!

His spiel on how he used to try and pick up girls by singing his order at McDonald's was pure comedy. Then later on in the show, he flipped the script and rocked out for about 20 min. The diversity was wonderful! They jammed so hard, the drummer broke the kick drum. And the crowd was loving it! We were some headbanging fools...I know a couple of folks had to pop some Advil later on, or maybe give their necks a quick rubdown with Ben-Gay. :)

I will take this moment to say that Eric's band is TIGHTER than a new rubber band! My God...and the backbone is the keyboardist/guitarist, Curtis. He is not only talented, but sexy (those eyes...that beard...those arms and lips...)!! I will go on record as saying that he could get it twice a day and three times on Sunday. :) When he played guitar, I thought he was channeling Jimi Hendrix. I mean, he WENT THERE. And when he and Eric sang a song that had snippets of "Hey Ya" in it...man-o-manimal!!

Oh, and Bilal Saleem sang backup on some stuff, too. I love how these artists stick together and support each other.

If you have never seen either Dub Ell or Eric perform, then make sure you do if you ever get the chance! BTW: Eric will be performing with Raheem Devaughn at Zanzibar in DC on Feb. 12.

Next up: Geno Young at Takoma Station.

T.