ALL MIGHTY SENATORS (The Return of LANDIS EXPANDIS on drums!!)
(with the KELLY BELL BAND)

At the Recher Theater - Towson, MD (11/17/07)

 


At 10:15pm, the Kelly Bell Band started with a red-hot, blazin' funk-rock tune called "Slander (Come Here Baby)", featuring the All Mighty Senators's Warren Boes on blistering lead guitarisms--midway thru the song, the song changed into a southern blues/rock song! The second song started with a simple statement from Kelly Bell (dedicated to his ex-wife) that went like this: "Thanks for the music, bitch!" The song was called "Can't Take That Back" and it was a great blues number with some good synthesizer riffs! The band then started playing Prince's "Purple Rain", but Kelly changed the lyrics to be more perverse...the song became "Purple Drawers"! After doing a little rock tune where the fans were waving lighters and cell phones in the air (to shine da light, y'all), the band performed All Mighty Senators's "Porno Star", which sounded very good with the rhythm similar to Prince's "Gett Off". "Movin' On" was a serious funk-rock scorcher. "Spinnin'" (dedicated to a KBB fan who somehow died on the wag to this gig) featured some meaty funk bass and some good drumming! The fans were more than happy to help with the chant "Hidin' from the FBI" for the song "F.B.I." -- dedicated to a true fan that owed his life to the band (it was this song that jogged the memory of this person who suffered amnesia from a nasty accident). The KBB included a little of Stevie Wonder's "Living For the City", The Ohio Players's "Fire", Parliament's "Swing Down, Sweet Chariot", and Sly & the Family Stone's "I Want to Take You Higher" ...there was even some guitar riffs recalling Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)"... the only problem is that I wished that they played the actual songs, instead of singing the words over a same groove. The Kelly Bell Band set was over at 11:30pm.

 

At 12:10am, it was time for the........RETURN of LANDIS EXPANDIS (aka KOOL-AYDE!)...OH YEAH!!! The majestic horns of Dave Finnell (on trumpet), Junior Bryce (on sax) and Craig Considine (on trombone) ushered in the return of BALTIMORE'S FINEST ROCK/FUNK/SOUL BAND, THE ALL MIGHTY SENATORS! Landis looked good and had a lot of stamina during the 80-minute performance.....and all the fans were totally excited to FINALLY hear some live music from the band (it's been about 8 months)! The first song was the funk-laced rock song "Triumphant". The rock/pop "Culture Shock" got the fans jumpin' about, while the next song (I don't know the name of it) featured a fiery guitar solo by Warren Boes! The bass swooping by Jack Denning on "Giant Steps" was good, and was followed by "Trendsetter". The next song was a newer song that started out as a ballad, then became a nasty, hardcore rock song. "Raw Power" was a subdued funk rhythm that periodically leapt into some powerful funk-rock grooving...and featured some bonin' by Craig (CLARIFICATION: some hot trombone playing by Craig)! "Booty Fresh" (featuring Kelly Bell on backing vocals) was followed by the Michael Jackson hit "Billie Jean" featured some stank, odorious bass riffing by Jack and that stupid chant at the end of MJ's "Wanna Be Startin' Something"....this was probably the best cover of a Michael Jackson song that I ever heard! "Wasting Our Time" was followed by "Transmitta" featuring a nasty lead guitar solo, a good sax solo by Junior Bryce, a guitar riff from the old-school hip-hop song "Planet Rock" (Africa Bambaataa), and guitar/bass riffs from The Ohio Player's "Fire". "Kung Foo Masters" and "Soul" were the last 2 songs, before the encore performance of "Checkered Past" (from their new CD of the same name) and "In Your Face". The fans were in heaven during this encore, which ended at 1:30am.



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