Photos and review by NOTES FROM VIVACE
LOS ANGELES – The band One Tribe Nation is a blend of rock, funk, soul, Afro-Latin rhythms, jazz, and world music. They’re led by founder Michael Sanders and fronted by Corey Glover of Living Colour.
It is an all-star collective of musicians with members playing with bands such as Berlin, Christina Aguilera, Sheila E., and Nickelback. They brought their talents together at The Den Studios as the headliners of The Bluesadelic Sessions night. Their set included both original and cover songs.
It was an all ages-night as well as a multispecies night. The only requirements were that you love grooving to music and giving the roaming dog some love. A friend introduced the band with, “They come with music built to unite us, move us, lift you higher, shake you awake, and remind you why live music still matters.”
The seven-member band played a couple tunes before introducing Corey Glover with the sly comment that he slept with three famous female singers all on the same day. With his distinct vocals and idiosyncratic humor, the band had the crowd pressed around the stage and laughing along with the band. “Let’s see if I remember this,” Glover said before the band launched into the Black Sabbath cover “The Wizard.” The band initially performed the song live at a benefit concert for the David Z Foundation that was also celebrating the life of Ozzy Osbourne.
Comment of the set: this is from a blaxploitation film that I’ve never seen.
A highlight of the night was Corey Glover’s original song “Lowball Express.” Out came the horn section for the tune and vocalist Ben Thomas broke out the trombone. The crowd was so close it was amazing that he didn’t smack someone with the tube.
The last song of the night was Rare Earth’s “I Just Want to Celebrate.” That had the phone cameras up to commemorate the evening.
The band ended the night by telling everyone, “Have a good night. Make good choices.”
There was also a birthday celebration. A cake was brought out to celebrate Michael Sanders who was just a couple hours away from his birthday.
Setlist: One Trick Pony, San Francisco, The Only One, The Wizard (Black Sabbath cover), Type, Do You First Then Do Myself (Corey Glover cover), Lowball Express (Corey Glover cover), Little Child, Alpha God, Estado Dorado, I Just Want to Celebrate (Rare Earth cover).
