Alongside the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Dave Matthews, and Paul Allen, Marshall Hugh has poised himself to become the next Seattle legend — and it only took one year.
“A lot can change in a year” has become somewhat of an axiom for the frontman and emcee of Marshall Law Band (MLB) — a funk-hop sextet that almost functions more as a community collective of local, featured artists with Hugh and company at the helm as opposed to a single band. And, indeed, a lot has changed in a year. Since their set at Capitol Hill Block Party, MLB has organized two major (and wildly successful) community festivals: this summer’s Splash Fest and Christmas Eve eve’s Emerald City Gala.
But, for Hugh and MLB, it’s not just the band’s own changes that matter; it’s the landscape of the Seattle community as a whole. Emerald City Gala — a three-stage festival hosted by Neumos, Barboza, and The Runaway, in which concert-goers showed up in full gala wear to walk a red carpet that stretched from the 10th Ave entrance of Barboza all the way down the hall to Neumos — doubled as a clothing and supply drive for the homeless. MLB is not only working to change their own lives, but also the lives of all those they touch through their music.
As Hugh put it on stage at Neumos, we grow by lifting others up, and, in curating and participating in an event that filled up a U-Haul with donations for those less fortunate, everyone at Emerald City Gala — musicians and festival-goers alike — contributed to that lift.
And while MLB’s music is incredibly infectious, wonderfully well-written, and exceptionally performed, what really makes their shows — and their Emerald City Gala set, specifically — is the band’s emphasis on togetherness. Throughout the set, Hugh introduced a multitude of guests, including local artists Taane Jr., J Moe Da Bird, I Am Chamel, Chris King (of Chris King & The Gutterballs), and Nobi, but also one of his friends and that friend’s early-elementary-school-aged daughter to make a point that if we really want to change the world, we have to start with the youth.
In one of the most powerful moments of the show, during an early track, Hugh spat a line about a friend getting “popped,” the lights went dark except for a spotlight, and Hugh turned around to show off his haircut, featuring a gun drawn into the back of his skull. It set the tone for the rest of the show: despite adversity, with a positive attitude, MLB proves, we have the power to institute change.
As the show went on and musical guests swam into and out of the stage like a merry-go-round while Hugh touted that everyone in the room was family, united simply by the fact that we came together for a greater cause (and as, I have to mention, MLB saxophonist Marty Thordarson captivated the audience by not only rocking out on his sax parts, but also by playing his sax like an air guitar between riffs), I got the feeling that any one person in the audience could have stepped on stage and been greeted by Hugh with a hug and a smile, truly grateful that a family member had felt strongly enough to join the band at the front of the room.
But, it wasn’t just MLB that made this festival — it was the rest of the family, too.
Spearheaded by singer and guitarist Cameron Lavi-Jones, the newly renamed alt-rock group King Youngblood (formerly Gypsy Temple) put on one heck of a show. Along with the name change (or, perhaps, a main cause of the change), the band has recently undergone a slew of lineup switches. While Lavi-Jones, electric cellist Cory Cavazos, and bassist Hamoon Milaninia make up the core of the band, guitarist Wilson Rahn (of electronic act Wilsonlikethevolleyball) left the group just prior to their debut full-length release, and former drummer Kai Hill has since been replaced with Alex Dillard. When King Youngblood took the stage as a quartet — Rahn was briefly replaced, but the band’s website now only lists Lavi-Jones, Cavazos, Milaninia, and Dillard as band members — I was interested to see how they filled out their sound.
While their set definitely wasn’t as textured without a second guitarist, as the set grew, so did the confidence and presence of the band members. The three core members riffed off each other more and more as the performance went on, and, in true rockstar form, built their set up to a jumping climax when Lavi-Jones came out into the crowd, had everyone get low, and then ordered us all to go wild when the beat dropped. I’m pretty sure everyone obliged — but I was too busy thrashing my head and holding my glasses from falling off my face to notice. I got lost in the moment, and that’s exactly the energy a rock band is supposed to bring to the table.
Another rocking performance came from The Good Ideas, a band composed of middle-schoolers with two drummers and endless attitude. Performing classic covers like Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall,” these kids legitimately put on a great and incredibly musical show — along with the more heartwarming aspect of our youth digging into music history.
One of my favorite bands in the city, Motus, held me glued to the front row their entire set. New back-up vocalist Kaeli Earle was funkily captivating, constantly grooving her feet to the beat. Trumpet player Daniel Lombard still has the most infectious stank face in the game, and frontwoman Monica Parshotam was ever-consuming, holding down center stage with incredible grace and charisma.
Surprise standouts came from Timoteo Cordero and Swamplifeterry. Cordero’s r&b tracks center around sensual grooves and sexual lyrics. While I’m a little tired of the over-sexualized section of the overall musical landscape, Cordero had the swagger to back it up. His grooves were on point, and the second I stepped into Barboza my body naturally laid back into his pocket, flowing to the beat. His voice is buttery-smooth, and his stage presence was unmistakable, especially when, three-quarters of the way through the set, he pulled out a head-to-toe costume change.
Similarly to Cordero, Swamplifeterry had me from the second I stepped down into Barboza. His presence was immediately felt: welcoming and joyous. What I loved about Terry’s set was how incredibly humble and familial it was. Spinning verses and jumping around the stage, Terry put his whole self on the pulpit. There was no fear — just inclusion. Terry invited us into himself and his set, and, having come down in the middle of his performance, I found myself yearning for more when he ended.
Potentially the most under-rated performer (or, at least, the performer I’ve seen least about in the media), though, was I Am Chamel. A Detroit-area native, I often find myself missing the down-and-dirty grit of the east side of the country. Although born in California and raised in Washington State, Chamel somehow embodies that street-sense, and it’s felt with every word she spits.
Walking to the stage from the back of Neumos, Chamel started a capella, rapping what may have been an immaculate freestyle and was definitely an incredibly apt verse about what we had come together for and Emerald City Gala itself. Chamel’s words seem to come not from her mind, but from her gut, bubbling up at just the right time and gently — but forcefully — grabbing her audience and lifting them up into the air with her, hanging on every word.
In the three months since Splash Fest, I Am Chamel has cemented herself as one of my top Seattle artists to watch. If that’s what she can do in three months, I can’t wait to see what she can do in a year.
The next year bodes well for MLB, too: following years of playing weekly shows in Seattle, Marshall Law Band is now set to take a three-month hiatus from their hometown to spur their positivity across other parts of the country. Their 2020 tour kicks off in Hawaii, the land of aloha and good faith — a Pacific oasis in the midst of a country divided.
As harrowing changes have ricocheted through the American landscape over the past year — at times, it feels like we’re reliving the 60s all over again: political trauma, a seemingly never-ending war, extreme racial tensions — Hawaii seems like the natural starting point for MLB and their mission of positivity, spreading leis and smiles everywhere they go.
While the group won’t be back in Seattle until May 2020, festivals like Emerald City Gala ensure that the band’s aura and influence won’t be lost in their absence. Not only is their presence imbued in the physical donations passed from their hands to the hands of those in need, but also within the community they’ve fostered in and created with other local musicians.
With every show, every movement, and every helping hand, Marshall Law Band and their family team of artists seem to be saying, “For every negative change I see, I’m going to put a positive one back into the world — if not two, three, ten, or twenty.”
But, even more importantly, what they’re saying is, “Look at what I did in a year. I saw something I wanted to change, and I took steps to make it happen. I curated two three-stage festivals and stood up for art. I filled a U-Haul with donations for those in need. I made music I felt needed to be made, and I touched people with it.
Now, let me teach you to do the same.”
One comment
Comments are closed.