Last night was my first night ever seeing a concert at the historic Southgate House in Newport, Kentucky. I know that may be hard to believe, but I can now say it is one of the cooler venues in the Cincinnati area. I was a little hesitant at first as the smell of smoke immediately greeted me upon entering the front doors. The building is open to smoking, but according to the website shows in the ballroom are often smoke free. Fortunately the Robert Randolph show was scheduled for the ballroom and was a smoke free show last night.

The venue itself is really great. I was definitely pleasantly surprised. The room has a decent sized stage up about four feet from the floor. The room itself can squeeze 600 inside and there is a large balcony that wraps around three sides of the room. The sound was excellent and last night we had plenty of room. I definitely cannot wait for my next show in this fantastic space.

The Cincy Brass

I arrived as the opening act of the night was already on the stage. The Cincy Brass are a nine piece brass band that combines elements of Bourbon Street with funk, hip-hop, and jazz. They mixed some of their own original songs from an upcoming album with New Orleans street music and even some instrumental covers. Their version of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” was especially awesome! They don’t have an official website yet, so future tour dates are a bit hard to find. Their Facebook page may be the best place. I definitely want to catch a future performance.

Robert Randolph & The Family Band

Robert Randolph & the Family Band took the stage after The Cincy Brass and started things off with a couple of tracks from their latest album, We Walk This Road. “Traveling Shoes” was a catchy number that got the crowd ready for some serious dance numbers that would follow. “The March” was played third and the crowd really loved hearing this one. And following it up with “Squeeze” was an incredible combination.

Also played were “Shake Your Hips,” complete with a dozen women from the crowd on stage dancing, standout track for the latest release “If I Had My Way”, the always incredible cover of Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile”, and crowd sing along “Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That.” Robert played all songs but two on his pedal steel, while cousins Danyel and Marcus laid down the beat on bass and drums. Also on stage was “Noodles” on guitar and keyboard as well as Robert’s sister Lenesha on vocals for the newer material.

As always Robert was all smiles while performing on stage. You can really tell that he enjoys every moment of their shows. His pedal steel playing is still incredible. In 2003 he was on Rolling Stone’s list of the top 100 guitarists of all time, and this designation definitely still applies. If you’ve never seen them play before, I would highly recommend it. Their shows are full of a ton of energy and the crowd is full of dancing and smiling the entire time.