Felicia Loud & The Soul stole the show in front of a hometown crowd last month at Chop Suey. The intimate venue was turned out by the heavy beats and booming voices of two power house singers, Jennifer Johns and Felicia Loud. The two opened their Heavy Soul Tour in Seattle, hitting a few cities down the Coast and wrapping up the tour in Los Angeles.
The show started with Jennifer Johns, an Oakland native, backed by a female DJ and a live band. The band opened with an impromptu jam session, followed by the DJ dropping in a beat fro, Mobb Deep's "Quiet Storm". Johns took the mic and let her voice fill the air, singing and rapping to the heavy beat. Her voice, clear and strong, coupled with the great sound system at Chop Suey, seemed to shake the room. At one point in the show, Johns bent over to straighten out her pant leg as she continued to sing - her voice maintained its power as if she were standing in a "proper" singing posture.
Johns' music is hard to categorize. It is a little bit of everything - from neo soul, to hip hop, some reggae, to drum and bass, mixed with a whole lot of funk and soul! The crowd seemed to be feeling her and at one point she jumped off the stage to dance with those who had gathered in front. Towards the end of the set, Johns' brought up local artist Erwin Thomas, who lent his vocals to a few songs in the form of words, beat boxing, and some reggae vibes.
While Johns' band cleared way for Felicia Loud & The Soul, Loud came up on stage with Thomas to entertain the crowd. The two took turns beat boxing while the other would rap and/or sing over the beat. The crowd loved it! The comedic side of Loud came out as she kept the crowd entertained with some silly freestyles like "I got bling, bling, bling with my oversized faux ring.." in reference to a humongous plastic ring she had on. She also took the time to sympathize with the crowd and thank them for being there, saying the she realized it was hard to stay up late on a work night in order to get up the next day to "Do what you gotta do for the people you don't appreciate, who don't appreciate you!" So true, so true! The crowd agreed too!
Once The Soul were in place, there was no delay as it was they who the crowd had been waiting for. In a quiet, whispering voice, Felicia began to sing "Sister". As the song progressed, her vocals began to build, as if she were turning up the volume with each word. Before the song was over, Felicia had the crowd vibing and shaking once again. Her amazing ability to transform her voice from such a low, breathy tone to this booming, robust level brought shock waves of energy to the crowd throughout the night.
Loud took time during her performance to connect with the crowd by talking to them and encouraging them to dance and let loose. She also recognized some of the local talent in the room who had come to support her. Most of the masses were familiar with her songs and were calling out for her to perform one song or another. "Demons" seemed to be one that everyone was calling for. She obliged and kept the crowd rocking with almost every track from her album, "Here." One fan in attendance shared that she had seen Felicia at the Triple Door and that her performance had moved her to tears. "She sings so much about reality and life. She's a beautiful singer and a beautiful song writer.I just had to come see her!"
You can check out both these artists out on their websites at www.felicialoud.com and www.jenniferjohns.com
