Presented inhouse. Reviewed Jan. 27, 1999.
Band: The Soldiers.
Since the late 1980s, when Irma Thomas purchased the Lion's Den as a venue for her in-town weekend performances, the singer dubbed the Soul Queen of New Orleans has earned a reputation for staying behind. Her admirable dedication to the less-touristy spots of the city and to maintaining Crescent City flavor notwithstanding, Thomas appears to be rounding a corner in her career. She's seemingly adopted Levon Helm's month-old club -- half a block from the House of Blues -- as her French Quarter home, where she dresses up her act and performs in a venue where she doesn't know most of the guests' names.
To some degree, Thomas' move is spurred by the Grammy nomination for her Rounder Records album "Sing It!," a trio affair featuring Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson. Then again, there's the insularity of the New Orleans music scene, in which an artist can play gigs seven nights a week and never shake her image in the outside world; in Thomas' case, it's that she's a two-song woman -- "You Can Have My Husband (But Please Don't Mess With My Man)" and "Time Is on My Side," one of her B-sides that the Rolling Stones turned into a hit. Certainly it forces some degree of formality on Thomas, and as much as she accepts that, it's drowned in the feel-good attitude of a quality bar band.
Thomas' voice is a pure treasure. As proven on a half-dozen albums this decade, her delivery is a unique blend of conviction and spiritual purity; her voice, regardless of the material or backing, beams from a teenage soul unburdened by a multitude of heartaches and disappointments.
Her first of two sets touched on her history -- rousing versions of "Don't Mess With My Man" and "Hip Shakin' Mama" -- but her more joyous numbers demonstrated how well Thomas can put a song over on a mostly non-native audience waiting for the familiar. "Sing It!," a gospel number given a funky, second line interpretation, was a steaming showstopper; her borrowed yet blessed New Orleans medley, which included "Iko Iko" and "Hey Pocky Way," was sharp and full-bodied, a reminder of how far the Neville Brothers have drifted from telling it like it is.
On ballads, Thomas flashed some of her country charm and rolled through some wonderful tales of romantic unsteadiness. The seven-piece band, featuring three horns, hit the ballads with an uncharacteristic thud, yet proved their mettle in the funkier arrangements.
Blues festivals have been Thomas' main venues outside Louisiana, and there's still some fest hokum in her set -- particularly in the stage patter -- but she brings on the treats found only in the friendliest confines: singing "Happy Birthday," fulfilling requests and signing autographs between sets. And starting in the grand tradition of a pair of instrumentals before intro'ing the singer, the band sparkled on a bizarre medley of blues, gospel and the disco ditty "To Be Real" before playing the blues with a leaden and fuzzy '60s rock approach. None of that off-kilter melding, funny enough, was even hinted at when Thomas was onstage.
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