Concert Review: Black Pumas Is Smooth Like Wine At Brooklyn Steel
Men wearing jerseys and one long earring, and women in leopard print and loose curls…. Black Pumas felt like an aesthetic, or maybe it was my mind still in Fashion Week. Yet, the night as much ambient as it was sonic for a band that feels simultaneously mainstream and indie like, the best kept secret to be written in lights on the biggest billboard in Times Square. By now, “Colors” has replayed a billion times thanks to that Target Commercial. Yet, at Brooklyn Steel, their Sold-Out show felt like a hidden gem.
As concerts become more frequent, New Yorkers are happily roaming back into their old grinds with some slight “swimmers’ legs,” which means that wobbly walk you get after spending way too much time in the pool and now you look like an astronaut trying to get to your beach chair. Yet, it is that strange dynamic of, “Huh! We’re back….really?” That made me feel Black Pumas is on the cusp of being bigger. While most artists sing to the blues, Black Pumas is literally singing to “Colors.” Their tracks like, “Mrs. Postman,” “Know You Better,” and “Dirty Dirty” aim for vivacity. Even their rendition of “Fast Car” was infused with a sense of awakening, which felt like light in the upcoming clashes with darkness.
Okay, I AM NOT TRYING TO BE BLEAK! But it is always the aftermath of a storm that really reveals true devastation because, while your in it, your just trying to survive. In essence, the first month of grieving a person is strangely okay, but wait a while, when the casseroles, hugs, and phone check-ups are gone, and then their loss is felt. People have lost, and the energy of Black Pumas is of someone who rebuilds. Eric Burton’s voice raises edifices as if each of his vocal notes were bricks putting back together a torn building. A lot of us are in a torn building, and 2022 will be the year of “bricks.” Thus, I could not help but feel as the band danced and blasted through their instruments and lyrics that saw fun and resilience as one in the same, that this group as made for our future.
Sad songs are a strange thing when you are actually sad. When I am in the mood for a good cry, I turn on Forrest Gump, but, if I actually want to cry, the last thing I need to hear about is Jenny and him. Instead, my cure is a weird blend of songs that tell you, with tears in your eyes, to dance and fight for yourself. Black Pumas provides exactly what I and, you will, need for the future: groove and motivation. Check out their Tour and Brooklyn Steel Dates Tonight And Tomorrow by Clicking Here.
