Sunday, November 24, 2019, 7:00 PM PST
Slim's
333 11th Street
San Francisco, CA
In the past few years Cherry Poppin’ Daddies have become
the kind of band that you would want to book if you were throwing a soiree at
the Gatsby mansion. Penning elegant, lush, pitch perfect arrangements of much
of the great American songbook, from Cole Porter to Frank Sinatra, the Daddies
have surprised many- likely familiar with them from the early 90’s- whose
limited exposure to the band undoubtedly consists of an image of spray painted
vans careening across the US as an iconoclastic, misfit part of an already
marginalized punk/ska scene.
In fact the Daddies have of late put together a number of
excellent swing/ jazz sit down theatre type shows, each tailored to a different
era of swing music: a “Jazz Age Lawn Party” consisting of roaring 20’s and
Cotton Club Era material, a swanky “Live at the Sands” type tribute to the Rat
Pack, and a World War 2 “Christmas Canteen” show that is part Tiki, part Benny
Goodman and comes across like a radio broadcast from Guadalcanal circa 1942.
The sheer craftsmanship and professional attention to detail of these
performances have shed new light on this criminally underestimated band.
On top of being a show band nonpareil, the Daddies have
an “oh by the way” double platinum ability to pen original material that, while
influenced by a history of American popular music, is wholly modern lyrically,
and itself stands up as classic. The 1997 release of Zoot Suit Riot set the bar
for the neo-swing movement of the era in terms of originality, lyrical depth,
and flat out musical sales.
Singer songwriter/ bandleader Steve Perry puts it this
way, “Lately, by laying our hands on the great American songbook, we have been
trying to fill in for audiences the historical back story of what inspires our
original brand of Americana, because in essence that is what I consider us to
be, an Americana band. But instead of taking mostly from a delta blues
tradition- like many of the bands labeled “Americana”- we adhere mostly to a
pre rock, pre mid 50’s, hot jazz and essentially Tin Pan Alley tradition. Then
we attempt to deconstruct and détourne those set of tropes to fit modern
themes, be that something like child abuse or say the opioid crisis. It’s
unfortunate, but I believe it comforts modern audiences to see that we are able
to play, in an orthodox fashion, material that is in the tradition, before they
allow us to reach out for something unfamiliar, multifaceted, or god forbid
anti-bourgeois in point of view like many of our originals are”
Proximity to home has allowed the Eugene, Oregon band to
recently finish a new recording slated for release in late 2018 called Bigger
Life. Perry says, “Bigger Life is 14 songs that will allow us to touch base
with our punk/ ska audience. We will continue to play the all swing, classy
theater type shows that are our bread and butter, but in addition, at some
point in 2019 and 2020, we would like to book a few special tours and play
occasional festivals where we crank it up and play only ska punk, hopefully
joining forces with some of the bands that befriended us as we were all coming
up in this business. This new record turned out really special and we are
excited for people to get their ears on it.”
Cost: $25 - $30
