Courtesy of Jon Freer from mosoul.co.uk here’s an event review of a live performance by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings from 8th October 2005 at the Roadhouse, Manchester.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings’ most recent album was entitled “Naturally”, and this is a fitting name for a group to whom live performance comes oh so easily. The Dap-Kings are a real funky outfit, who use dapper brass work, neat guitar moves and dependable drumming, to create an authentic retro-toned sound. Hailing from Augusta, Georgia, where a certain elder statesman of Funk was also born, Sharon Jones is a musical force to be reckoned with, who has the ability to bring a crowd to their knees whenever she wishes.

This welcome mid-evening showing from Jones and the gang, put on by the amiable Friends & Family, saw the poky Roadhouse packed out by a large crowd of various ages. Before the show-woman made it to the stage, the Kings worked the crowd up with a mixture of jamming and instrumental funked-up pieces. This performance from the Dap-Kings set the mood for the show rather nicely and showed the talents of the group, who were most definitely pushed out of the spotlight once a certain colourful singer took to the stage. A former prison corrections officer and current Brooklyn resident, to suggest Sharon Jones is an impressive performer is a bit of an understatement. Standing atop of a speaker in order to let the whole crowd get a good view, the charismatic large lady delivered an incredibly entertaining performance, which must have used up every ounce of energy in her body. The funkified powerhouse delivered breath-taking renditions of the theatrical “What Would They Do If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?”, disconsolate “How Do I Let A Good Man Down” and heart-warming “This Land Is Your Land”, but her singing was not her only type of soulful ammunition. Absentmindedly regaling listeners with tales that were spoken perfectly in time over her band’s music, dancing in a frenzied manner and plucking a fella from the audience for her obligatory flirtatious moment with a local, added that extra firepower to her unforgettable performance.

[The photo was taken by Kelly Jo Garner, you can find more photos in her gallery. For more info about Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings visit daptonerecords.com]