I had been told that St. Paul and the Broken Bones is the kind of band that has to be seen or experienced live. It was a thrill, then, to have the chance to catch the band as they recently took their Angels in Science Fiction Tour to Baltimore’s Rams Head Live!
For me, personally, a great show can genuinely affect how the rest of my week goes — sometimes how the rest of the month goes! But heading into the venue my mood was lifted on Feb. 21. At Rams Head Live!, the opening band, Sugadaisy from Kentucky, kicked off the night with some fun psychedelic indie rock.
And that feeling only got stronger as the shuffling drums started the beginning of St. Paul and the Broken Bones set. Each member of the band took the stage one after another as they took their places and filled in the groove until singer and showman, Paul Janeway took the mic and showing off his dance moves to this eager crowd.
The band started off with the soul groove of “Flow With It (You Got Me Feeling Like).” This was the first time for me getting to witness St. Paul and the Broken Bones, and seeing the unassuming Janeway belt out those falsetto highs with a band so locked in on that rolling beat was a sight to see.
Songs like their biggest chart topper, “Call Me,” I knew sounded great through my speakers but seeing this eight-piece soul band with singer, Paul Janeway throwing himself into those lines “You got to call me, baby!” is just different. You can feel it in the soles of your feet.
“So this week we’ve been celebrating the 10 year anniversary of us releasing our debut record called Half the City,” Janeway told the crowd. “I think we can call this a career now,” he went on before playing the first song they wrote for the album, “I’m Torn Up.”
The Alabama-based band kept the big sound going throughout the night with the funk groove of “Wolf in Rabbits Clothes” to the Marvin Gaye soul of “Apollo.”
Taking a much deserved break, Janeway told the crowd about how his wife went to school in DC and he flew from Birmingham to BWI so much and ended up seeing his first show at Rams Head — Mastodon with Baroness (for the uninitiated, two of the heaviest bands around). “And she still married me,” he joked.
Highlights included an incredible instrumental break where saxophonist Amari Ansari danced around the stage, reaching out over the edge to the crowd. And the brilliant encore as the band came back on with Paul Janeway wearing his trademark sequin cape to sing off the one level of the balcony, ending the night with “Broken Bones & Pocket Change.”
Watch the official music video for “The Last Dance” by St. Paul & The Broken Bones on YouTube:
There are times when you can tell by the crowd if it’s going to be a great show, and watching how into the performance this audience was, you knew it was a good one, and the band noticed it too. St. Paul and the Broken Bones put on an great show and one that, as I said before, “made you feel it in the soles” and, I would go as far as saying in your soul as well.
St. Paul and the Broken Bones continue their tour of the USA through the Spring.
The setlist included:
Opening Marvin Jam
Flow With It (You Got Me Feeling Like)
Call Me
Half the City
I’m Torn Up
Wolf in Rabbits Clothes
City Federal Building
Grass Is Greener
(Intrumental Break)
Beatus
Minotaur
GotItBad
Apollo
Encore:
Like a Mighty River
Sanctify
The Last Dance
Broken Bones & Pocket Change
Here are more photos of St. Paul and the Broken Bones performing at Rams Head Live! in Baltimore on Feb. 21, 2024. All photos copyright and courtesy of David LaMason.
And here are photos of Sugadaisy opening for St. Paul and the Broken Bones at Rams Head Live!
