PREVIEW: Galactic / Earphunk @ Varsity Theatre (Baton Rouge) – 10/20/11

Galactic @ Jazz Fest 2011 | Photo by Jimmy Grotting

Galactic heads down to the Capital City tomorrow for their annual fall blowout at the Varsity Theatre in Baton Rouge. Not sure if the veteran rhythm section will be joined on the road with any of the usual suspects of the past few years (Corey Henry, Cyril Neville, Corey Glover, and the list goes on…), either way you can almost bank on yet another seismic shift in their constantly evolving career that continues this week with a fall tour alongside The Revivalists and JJ Grey & Mofro at different stops. Most notably, the band announced on WWOZ yesterday that they put the master tapes in for their record label and played two songs from the forthcoming album that included a Brazilian/NOLA funk mashup feat. a Brazilian samba troupe mixed in with a track featuring the vocals of Mystikal and Mannie Fresh (don’t think that that’s been done before…). Either this was an exclusive first glimpse into the next phase of their careers, or just another funked-out get down manufactured to maximize the get loose nature of their shows.

As for the opening act on Thursday, I can’t say enough good things about Earphunk, having seen these guys upstage headlining acts with ease recently it’ll be something to really look forward to seeing them perform on a big stage in BR. And who knows, with their recent Daft Phunk shows (including one next weekend during Voodoo), maybe a DP cover will make the set list…

Earphunk will be on around 9:00-9:30 so that should put Galactic on stage at 10:30-11:00. Tickets are $17.50 in advance, $20.00 at the door and can be found here.

Galactic – Garbage Truck