She may be 56-years-old, but boy-oh-boy can Sharon Jones shake it.
She graced Store Vega with her vigorous dance moves on Saturday night, alongside her band The Dap-Kings. In usual form, the soul/funk band from Brooklyn started the show in a dramatic fashion. Guitarist and MC Binky Griptite led the proceedings, providing running commentary with freight-train speed between tunes. He introduced the band’s back-up singers, The Dapettes, and the two voluptuous women sauntered onto stage in black spangled outfits, offering the audience a little vocal snack. By now, an air of anticipation was surging. The show had already started later than was scheduled – to avoid a clash with Sankt Hans festivities – and the crowd was eager to see the main attraction.
Introduced by MC Griptite as “110 pounds of soul”, the ever-energetic singer bounced onto stage in a silver-sequined dress with beaded tassels that shimmered whenever she shook her hips – which was often. She launched into ‘He Said I Can’ and the audience was totally invigorated, dancing along while Jones approached the front of the stage and flirted wildly with the young men watching below. She did a lot of flirting throughout the show – first pulling up a guy name Villads (the Danish pronunciation was a little too much so Jones called him ‘Felix’) and later an audience member named Lasse (dubbed ‘Oscar’) got up for ‘My Man Is A Mean Man’. Jones also took up five girls and this reviewer was one of them, booty-shaking with the woman herself, experiencing her vigour and charisma firsthand, giving her a kiss on her sweaty cheek. It was quite the moment.
Another delightful tidbit was when another audience member, Annette, sang and scatted with Jones on stage. That retro, New Orleans jazz quality ran throughout the show and it was a pleasure to see the performers visibly enjoying themselves. Trumpeter David Guy was so sweaty that his baby-pink shirt was nearly translucent, and his feet were nearly standing in a puddle of spittle. The seven-piece band – one of the saxophonists was missing – was tight as usual and played sweet little jazz fill-ins between songs.
It was this reviewer’s fourth time seeing Jones and she seems to get better and better on every occasion. Taking her shoes off at one point, Jones retold the story of her West African slave ancestors through dance and song. She moved her neck, knees, feet and elbows at the same time, getting the crowd to mimic her. She moved so wildly that her braids, which hung loose at the back of her head, jangled frantically. Before their last tune, a mash-up that included ‘100 Days, 100 Nights’, Jones introduced her band and each member played a short solo.
Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings did a cracking encore, finishing off with ‘When I Come Home.’ At the end of the show, Jones invited her fans to meet her at the ‘Super-Soul-Super-Store’, otherwise known as the merchandise desk. There, she signed posters and CDs and chatted with the show-goers. And it is that down-to-earth attitude that makes people love her so.
