02 Sept 11

Hey, blogspot readers, welcome to the swingiest soulful afterparty set to ever rock the Double Door stage! And SouthSide hopes you have your dancing shoes on because that's what she did all Friday night long. In celebration of the start of North Coast Music Festival, Soul Summit DJs Sloppy White, Dave Mata and Duke Grip got the fun off to a rockin' beginning with a lively mix of retro and modern soul/funk/R&B tunes. They certainly kept this gathering crowd thoroughly warmed up until it was time for J.C. Brooks & The Uptown Sound to appear on stage to close out this party.

SouthSide highly suggests spending time groovin' with the hippest group of cool cats ever seen (or reviewed) around town known as J.C. Brooks & The Uptown Sound. Their soulful vibration, blogspot readers, had many within this crowded venue (guys included) screamin like giddy schoolgirls throughout this extended performance whenever their favorite J.C. song was performed. What made this group so unique to the local scene is their homage to the classic Motown soul/R&B sound that also has a lively modern funk/groove flow. Plus coupled with front man J.C. Brooks and his ultra smooth, heartfelt falsetto vocal style on the mic, this band kept everyone dancing to the J.C. magical soul vibration song after song. Performing hits such as Berry Please, Sister Ray Charles and Hold You Back, J.C. and Uptown performed new song Baaaad News off the upcoming album Want More(due out Oct 25 ...record release show on Oct 28 at Double Door) in which SouthSide enjoyed the wicked guitar riffs and hot rhythms pumping excitable momentum into the crowd. Yet to truly feel and experience the full effects of J.C. Brooks & The Uptown Sound, this reviewer suggests listening to Awake - it had a soulful but powerfully dynamic message for the millenial generation almost reminiscent to Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and Mercy Me combined. And for a taste of J.C.'s fast-paced funk vibrations, it's suggested blogspot readers check out Wilco (started off nice and slow but ending Uptown rough and fast like Ike and Tina's version of Proud Mary) and Get It Together (which ended the show on a rockin' high note leaving the crowd hungry for more J.C.). For that J.C. sound that will leave you feeling hot and sweaty from its funk sexiness, listen to 75 Years of Art Sex (included a verse and chorus of Eurhythmics' Sweet Dreams) and Everything Will Be Fine.

For more information about J.C. Brooks & The Uptown Sound, visit http://www.theuptownsound.wordpress.com or http://www.myspace.com/theuptownsound.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide