G. Love & Special Sauce Celebrate 20 Years of Lemonade
Words by Rahsaan “Wordslave” Eldridge
Photos by Steve Satzberg
G. Love & Special Sauce stopped by Rams Head On Stage on Feb. 4 and 5 as part of their 2026 North American winter tour. The band was joined by professional surfer and Hawaiian artist Makua, who opened the show, as they celebrated the 20th anniversary of their album Lemonade.
Special Sauce is led by Garrett Dutton — better known as G. Love — on vocals, guitar and harmonica. The lineup also featured Tom Arey (J. Geils Band, Peter Wolf and the Midnight Travelers) on drums, Nate Edgar (Nth Power, John Brown’s Body) on bass, and special guest Kelly Bell of the Kelly Bell Band on percussion.
The group played a two-hour set with no breaks, aside from G. Love’s hyped-up crowd check-ins and moments of comic relief — including a pause during “Holla” to point out the lyric, “Can’t believe that she let me hit it!”
“Thanks and Praise” put the rhythm section front and center, with the line “Babylon taking me through phases, but we still giving thanks and praise” serving as a reminder of gratitude in trying times.
“This Ain’t Living” was funky and laid-back, evoking Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues.” Garrett’s poignant rhymes addressed homelessness and the growing divide between the haves and the have-nots.
Watch G. Love perform “This Ain’t Living” live on YouTube:
Other highlights included “Baby’s Got Sauce,” “Can’t Go Back to Jersey,” and “Free,” during which the crowd enthusiastically chanted, “Kill it, kill it, bring it back to life!”
On “I-76,” Garrett freestyled off the top and brought Makua back onstage for a verse. Kelly Bell also had a moment to shine during the encore with a spirited rendition of Bo Diddley’s “Before You Accuse Me.”
Another standout was the dirty, muddy groove of a brand-new tune, “Weekends Are for Making Love,” driven by a funky hip-hop backbeat, a catchy hook and slide guitar. The band closed the night on a positive note with “Rainbow,” as Garrett told the crowd that the rainbow in the sky was “God telling us everything’s gonna be alright.”
G. Love & Special Sauce remain uniquely genre-bending — a seamless blend of bluesy, soulful, gritty and spiritual. Garrett moves effortlessly between rhyming, guitar and harmonica, delivering a message to the party while still throwing one of his own.
Here are some photos of G. Love & Special Sauce performing live at Rams Head On Stage on Feb. 4, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
Here are some photos of Makua opening G. Love & Special Sauce at Rams Head On Stage on Feb. 4, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
