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    #4The Meters by Radio Futura
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Despite a reputation as the finest New Orleans funk band ever, the Meters didn't get their full due in the first go-round back in the 1960s and '70s. Their recordings for Josie, Island and Reprise were the pinnacle of dirty Southern funk in an era when glossy, uptown disco ruled the R&B roost, but they were admired by the likes of Paul McCartney and Robert Palmer, who both hired them as sidemen. It's shocking how much better the Meters sound as a whole than any of these musicians do leading their own bands playing the same timeless material.

The quartet had a simmering feud for nearly three decades that they patched up after Katrina hit, and Wednesday's concert at the Hollywood Bowl was their 11th gig together in the last nine months.

They stretched out on songs such as "Cissy Strut" (one of their two top 40 singles), "Look Ka Py-Py" and songs that organist Art Neville took with him to the Neville Brothers after the Meters split in 1976, "People Say" and "Hey Pocky Way."

While the songs remain the same, their sound retains its density and drive due to Art's steady and even ferocious organ playing and George Porter Jr.'s bass playing, which fills gaps the way the best reggae players have done. Zigaboo Modeliste, as good a drummer as the rock world has seen, is inventive and inspiring; at times, he creates the illusion of a backbeat and goes his merry way, filling in spaces with deft attacks on the tom-toms or riding a cymbal, seemingly never duplicating himself during a song except when absolutely necessary.

Guitarist Leo Nocentelli has dramatically altered his sound, going for a hard rock-meets-soul style; technique's far flashier than his swampy or scratchy sounds he on the band's legendary records. The Bowl's screens displayed Nocentelli's dazzling fretwork, and seeing his effort helped adjust the ears to a sound that had more in common with the Isley Brothers than New Orleans.

Band closed with a sultry slice of soul from '74, "It Ain't No Use," which a contempo radio programmer could put on the air today alongside Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" without a single listener batting an eye. Their music, while it has a distinct sense of place, was quite ahead of its time.

Art, who continues to struggle with back problems and walked across the stage with a cane, did double duty, appearing with his brothers, nephews and a few hired hands. The Nevilles far surpassed their tepid 1997 Bowl appearance by blending just enough uptempo numbers with the ballads of Aaron, who has an album of vintage soul covers due in stores Sept. 19.

The angelic-voiced bear of a man turned in a spine-tingling rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and followed with a reggae-tinged spin on Bill Wither's "Ain't No Sunshine" and a perfectly calm version of his 1967 hit "Tell It Like It Is."



    Tracklist
    0:00    The Meters - 6V6 LA
    2:30    The Meters - 9 'til 5
    5:00    The Meters - Africa
    9:00    The Meters - All These Things
    12:00    The Meters - Ann
    14:30    The Meters - Art
    21:00    The Meters - Be My Lady (Single Version)
    23:00    The Meters - Big Chief - Live
    24:00    The Meters - Big Chief (Live)
    26:30    The Meters - Birds
    31:00    The Meters - Britches
    33:30    The Meters - Cabbage Alley (Remastered Version)
    36:30    The Meters - Can You Do Without?
    40:00    The Meters - Cardova
    44:30    The Meters - Chicken Strut - Single Version
    45:30    The Meters - Chicken Strut
    47:30    The Meters - Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push and Shove), Pt. I
    50:30    The Meters - Cissy Strut
    53:30    The Meters - Darling Darling Darling
    56:00    The Meters - Disco Is the Thing Today
    1:00:00    The Meters - Do the Dirt
    1:02:30    The Meters - Doodle Loop (The World Is a Little Bit Under the Weather)
    1:06:00    The Meters - Dry Spell
    1:08:30    The Meters - Ease Back
    1:11:30    The Meters - Find Yourself
    1:15:00    The Meters - Fire on the Bayou
    1:19:00    The Meters - Fire on the Bayou (Live)
    1:31:00    The Meters - Funkify Your Life
    1:36:00    The Meters - Funky Meters Soul
    1:39:00    The Neville Brothers - Funky Miracle
    1:41:30    The Meters - Gettin' Funkier All the Time
    1:44:30    The Meters - Give It What You Can
    1:49:00    The Meters - Go for Yourself
    1:52:30    The Meters - Hand Clapping Song
    1:54:30    The Meters - Hang 'em High / Honkey Tonk Woman
    1:56:00    The Meters - Here Comes The Meter Man
    1:59:00    The Meters - Hey Pocky A-Way (2002 Remaster)
    2:03:00    The Meters - Hey Pocky A-Way - Live
    2:10:00    The Meters - Hey! Last Minute
    2:12:30    The Meters - Honky Tonk Woman
    2:15:30    The Meters - I Want to Be Loved by You
    2:20:30    The Meters - I'm Gone
    2:25:00    The Meters - Interlude - Live
    2:26:00    The Meters - It Ain't No Use
    3:01:30    The Meters - Jam / Band Intro
    3:02:30    The Meters - Jam / Band Intro - Live
    3:06:30    The Meters - Joog
    3:08:30    The Meters - Jungle Man
    3:11:30    The Meters - Jungle Man - Live
    3:16:30    The Meters - Just Kissed My Baby
    3:22:00    The Meters - Just Kissed My Baby - Live
    3:26:00    The Meters - Liar
    3:31:30    The Meters - Little Old Money Maker
    3:34:00    The Meters - Live Wire
    3:36:30    The Meters - Liver Splash
    3:38:30    The Meters - Lonesome and Unwanted People
    3:43:00    The Meters - Look-Ka Py Py
    3:46:00    The Meters - Love Is for Me
    3:49:30    The Meters - Love Slip Upon Ya
    3:54:00    The Meters - Loving You Is on My Mind
    3:57:00    The Meters - Mardi Gras Mambo
    3:59:30    The Meters - Meters Strut
    4:02:30    The Meters - Middle of the Road
    4:10:00    The Meters - Mister Moon
    4:14:00    The Meters - My Name up in Lights
    4:19:00    The Meters - No More Okey Doke
    4:23:30    The Meters - Oh, Calcutta!
    4:26:00    The Meters - Out in the Country (Remastered Version)
    4:29:30    The Meters - People Say (Remastered Version)
    4:34:00    The Meters - People Say (Live)
    4:40:00    The Meters - Pungee
    4:42:30    The Meters - Ride Your Pony
    4:46:00    The Meters - Rigor Mortis
    4:48:00    The Meters - Running Fast
    4:49:30    The Meters - Same Old Thing
    4:52:00    The Meters - Sehorn's Farm
    4:54:30    The Meters - Sing a Simple Song
    4:57:00    The Meters - Smiling
    5:00:00    The Meters - Sophisticated Cissy
    5:02:30    The Meters - Soul Island (1997 Remaster)
    5:05:30    The Meters - Soul Machine
    5:09:00    The Meters - Stay Away
    5:14:00    The Meters - Stop That Train
    5:18:30    The Meters - Stormy
    5:22:00    The Meters - Suite for 20 G
    5:26:00    The Meters - Talkin' 'Bout New Orleans
    5:29:30    The Meters - The Flower Song
    5:34:00    The Meters - The Look Of Love
    5:37:30    The Meters - The Mob
    5:40:00    The Meters - They All Ask'd for You (Single Version) [Remastered]
    5:46:00    The Meters - They All Ask'd for You - Live
    5:49:00    The Meters - Thinking
    5:50:30    The Meters - This Is My Last Affair
    5:53:00    The Meters - Tippi-Toes
    5:55:30    The Meters - Trick Bag (Single Version) [Remastered]
    5:58:30    The Meters - Tuning
    5:59:30    The Meters - We Got the Kind of a Love
    6:04:30    The Meters - What 'cha Say
    6:08:00    The Meters - Wichita Lineman
    6:12:30    The Meters - Yeah Your're Right
    6:13:30    The Meters - You're a Friend of Mine
    6:17:00    The Meters - You've Got to Change (You've Got to Reform)


    Funk, Soul, Funk, New Orleans, dirty Southern funk
    • Type: DJ-Set
    • 157 bpm
    • Key: Gm
    • Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
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