Review: Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals at the Halifax Jazz Fest
Pure joy and enthusiasm
By Dave Hayden
Hot damn Halifax–that was some sexy night. Reeny Smith’s impassioned opening performance was a perfect match for the high dose of sex and swagger that followed when Anderson .Paak and his band The Free Nationals launched into the opening pulsations of “Milk & Honey” in front of a rapturous audience eager and willing to be seduced. No one doubted that .Paak would deliver: he brought the funk, the hip-hop, the R&B and disco. But .Paak and the Free Nationals ALSO brought deep soul and a heightened exuberation to a fog-threatened Jazz Fest main stage. It was infectious. His joy and enthusiasm for being in our city was obvious from the smiles and sweat that was reflected back tenfold by a crowd that hung on his every word and gyration right up to the final drum fill that extended “Luh You” into a mutual call and response love exchange of “ I think I love you? NO, Fuck that—I know I do”. Hot damn .Paak–that was some sexy night. Our hearts didn’t stand a chance.
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