Review – Lee Fields & The Expressions

There was a surprise announcement just before the show was due to start: Lee Fields had taken ill, and wouldn’t be able to perform. The punters were offered full refunds, which a few of them left to claim, but for the most part the crowd stayed behind for what was almost entirely an instrumental set. I suspect they did so mostly out of politeness. This is Adelaide, after all.

That is not to say the band, who were all the way over from Brooklyn, were bad: as a matter of fact, they were sensational. It occurred to me as they were playing “Lean on Me” that I would be lucky to hear such an accomplished band play that tune again in my lifetime. The guitarist and organist were stand-out, and overall The Expressions put on an incredibly tight set. But imagine, if you will, the film Jerry Maguire, except without Tom Cruise. Not with another person in the lead, just without him at all: in every scene where the supporting characters would be addressing the Littlest Scientologist they are instead talking to hot air. Where there would be narration, there’s just montages without context. That is about how uninteresting and surreal this show was.

The multi-piece band crafted an elaborate soundscape, but it was making room for vocals which just weren’t there. And when a voice like Lee Fields’ is missing, it leaves one hell of an absence. Credit where it’s due: it was brave of this band to power through what must have been an uncomfortable set. But brave doesn’t make for entertainment, and this wasn’t the show we turned out for.

Lee Fields, I just wished you were here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3rIA-BCZ0E&feature=c4-overview&list=UUsuaptensRt3-Z9YgPd0PXQ&w=400]