Why You Need to See Thundercat in Concert
Evan Dale // Oct 4, 2021
Alex Kittoe
Attending a concert is pretty much always a good time. Whether it’s an artist whose entire career you follow closely or one you’ve never heard of; a style of music you associate yourself with or not, concerts – by way of their general energy and their ties to something deep and internal within our human DNA – ignite a sense of awe and a tether of connection to anyone willing to let loose and participate in their explosiveness and vibrancy. It’s natural, our collective sense of ritual; our communal connection to music. And seeing it – feeling it – in a live setting, especially amidst the streaming era we all inhabit, touches something especially intrinsic in our anthropological id. It’s in that inescapable desire to jolt and jab to the beat; in that emotive smile evoked naturally throughout a set; in that internally necessary outlet, that which ties us all to live music and keeps us all coming back for more.
And yet, even amongst the almost entirely positive stream of emotion and connection that concerts have in our lives, there are generational acts that bring an even greater sense of awe than others. Of them, it would be hard to argue that in the modern touring circuit, any artist brings more gusto hand-in-hand with an atmosphere that can only really be described as positive, fun-loving, inviting, and enticing, than Los Angelino, Acid Jazz playwright, and Neo-Funk virtuoso with an 6-string bass, Thundercat.
And there’s a good chance you’ve had the pleasure of seeing him – or at least hearing him – do his thing before. Without really adhering to any one stylistic lane, and instead being a welcome part of many, Thundercat has in the recent past toured with names like Earl Sweatshirt, Mac Demarco, and Anderson .Paak; he’s been in the session bands for Erykah Badu and Flying Lotus; and he’s won Grammy’s both for his work “at the creative epicenter” of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly and for his fourth solo studio album, 2020’s It Is What It Is. He’s everywhere, and if you haven’t yet done so, it’s time to tune in to a Thundercat show near you.
Alex Kittoe
Through all of his achievement and all of his skills, there is nothing that will put what it is that Thundercat is really doing within music in more clear perspective than seeing him do it live. With hands the size of dinner plates, and a smile even bigger than that, the charismatic performer with yellow dreads and eclectically patched boxing shorts sings softly into the mic while has hands rip and tear away at bass riffs in a way that few if any alive today could equal. His is a unique, generational, yet simultaneously timeless kind of talent that could have main-staged every festival from ’67 Woodstock to all of the ones where he does exactly so, today. And it’s in the timelessness of his craft where one really starts to appreciate just how rare his talent is.
Alex Kittoe
For us – for now, at least – his most recent chapter in our lives came in Denver at the Westword Music Showcase. At a stage with a set time that allowed his performance to transcend from the daytime to the night through sunset, Thundercat’s dynamic musicianship and charismatic positivity felt particularly magical, even when weighed against other times we had seen him before. Perhaps it was the golden hour nature of his set; perhaps it was because of the long gap in live music as a result of Covid-19; perhaps it was all of the new selections pulled from the illustrious and acclaimed It Is What It Is; but whatever it was, Thundercat, even amongst a swatch of other headlining names from Matoma and Young the Giant to Duke Dumont and Kaytranada, stole the show. It’s the way he plays – seemingly effortless in every part of his body except for the mindboggling pace of his fingers; it’s what he plays – front-manning groovy, sexy Neo-Funk with a trio of bass guitars – a four-string, a six-string, and a double-necked monster; it’s simply his general presence – charismatically connecting with the crowd – even with individuals in the crowd and those around him on stage, all the while crafting music in a live setting that could have highlighted so many incredible stages throughout jazz, soul, rock, and funk history.
Thundercat was born to play, as are many in this world. But Thundercat was also born to perform, which is an increasingly rare gift. One of the most dynamic and welcoming live musicians not only in modern music, but really through recent music history, Thundercat crafts an experience unlike any other to the tune of a sound the likes of which is also soloistically unique to him.
Alex Kittoe