When I was 16 years old, I saw Living Colour open for the Rolling Stones at the Oakland Coliseum shortly after the 1989 Bay Area earthquake. Turns out Living Colour was in San Francisco for the quake too, as drummer Will Calhoun explained to me after the show. I had this conversation with Will because the members of Living Colour hung out after the concert to meet fans and take pictures one at a time, as Vernon Reid (arguably the most underrated guitarist of all time) did with me below.
The show itself at the Lincoln Theatre last night was top shelf on every level. Performing "Vivid" in its entirety on the 25th anniversary of the album, the band launched into its biggest hit, "Cult of Personality" as the opener because, after all, it is the first song on the record. It was apparent from the get-go that Corey Glover's voice was in stunningly good form. Throughout the night, he was able to switch between gospel, funk, and heavy metal screeching with apparent effortlessness, hitting notes a 48 year old man usually doesn't hit. Glover played a perfect frontman, smiling with glee as the crowd sang or shouted back at the appropriate moments, as in "Glamour Boys". Glover: "I ain't no glamour boy!" Crowd: "I'm fierce!" Glover: "I ain't no glamour boy!" Crowd: "Woooo!"
Glover was emotional at times, genuinely moved by the music and the appreciative audience and funny, as he plays up the long relationship with Reid with lines like, "I don't have this grey hair because of age. It's because of this guy."
The encore included a song Glover maintains is the band's most requested, "Love Rears Its Ugly Head", from "Vivid's" follow-up, "Time's Up". They closed with the title track from "Time's Up", mashing it up with the Godfather of Soul's "Sex Machine" as the crowd screamed, "Get on up!!" back at the band as Glover delightfully strutted across the stage on a night that belonged to him.
Foster
Radio 96.1
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