What's Your Favorite Color, Baby?

Living Colour; Danielia Cotton & The Pistoleros
@Irving Plaza
New York, NY – December 17, 2005

New York legends Living Colour finished up their 2005 short tour and for that matter, probably finished up my 2005 concert year. The band offered a stunning set that lasted nearly 3 hours, showcasing their talents for mixing of pop, hard rock, prog rock, punk, funk, and thrash metal. A lot of the music didn’t personally appeal to me but the musicianship of the quartet is supreme. Lead singer Cory Glover still hits the high notes with shocking precision and he’s certainly the most soulful singer to front a band that mixes the Beatles, the Clash, and Slayer. And he’s got a kick-ass fedora to boot. Vernon Reid is one of the greatest guitarists of all time. ‘Nuff said. Bassist Doug Wimbish is the band’s secret heart, making the bass the equal of Vernon’s guitar. In addition, Wimbish does all the effects that make Living Colour a complete experience. Drummer Will Calhoun is the final piece of the puzzle, demonstrating his talents in a 15-minute drum solo that serves as the break before the encore. There has never been anything quite like Living Colour and there never will be again.

Opener Danielia Cotton displayed the same eclectic nature as Living Colour but rather than pile all it on at one time, she does it song by song. Backed by fellow New York rockers the Pistoleros, Cotton has a seductively charming voice. When she sings hard blues, she rivals Shemeika Copeland. When she does pop, she outshines Michelle Branch. When she does country, she sends Shania Twain straight to hell (is that even a relevant reference point anymore?). She covered Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My Love” with grace. But when she was doing pop, rather than the hard blues, the songs were a little uninspired. She finished off by prefacing the last song with “You’ve never heard a black Puerto Rican girl sing this song before” and as it was AC/DC’s “Back In Black”, she’s probably right. Ironically, Living Colour was arguably the first all black Rock band to do that song when they covered it on their last album.