By: David Schultz

The North Mississippi Allstars want to see you shake your ass. For years, it’s been a recurring theme in their music and lead guitarist Luther Dickinson has taken to referring to it in his stage banter with the same frequency that Michael Franti asks “How ya feelin’.” Unless you’re not paying attention, you can’t possibly miss the prime directive that you shake something when you are within the Allstars’ presence. This past week in New York City, Dickinson, his brother Cody and bassist Chris Chew found an audience at the HighLine Ballroom that was quite accepting of their kinetic mandate.

After a lengthy respite, New York City has been the recipient of a relative surfeit of Allstars performances. At the close of 2007, the NMA anchored a reinvigorated original lineup of The Word, serving as the backbone to keyboardist John Medeski’s heart and Robert Randolph’s soul at a sold-out performance at Terminal 5. They return only one month later, as their recently commenced winter tour brings them back to The Big Apple before they can truly be missed. On their fifth studio album, Hernando, the Allstars made a concerted effort to move away from their Mississippi roots and focus more on blues-based classic rock. It’s a style that has always flourished in a concert setting and the new songs, especially heavier ones like “Keep The Devil Down” and “Soldier,” translate well and benefit greatly from the live workout.

Surrounded by a ton of instruments - Chew had a half dozen basses or more off on one side of the stage and Luther’s customary phalanx of guitars sat center stage – the Allstars spread out across the stage and filled the room with their blend of Mississippi Delta derived blues. For the first hour of the show, they drew heavily from Hernando with Luther weaving his solos and slide guitar within the grooves being nicely laid down by Chew and the younger Dickinson. One of the more underrated guitarists, Luther doesn’t seem to receive as much recognition for his guitar work as is his proper due. In March, he will join Chris & Rich Robinson as an official member of The Black Crowes. Although the Crowes’ hardcore fans are already well versed in all things Luther, he should impress a number of new listeners who will be getting their first exposure to the bespectacled guitarist. He’s already developing his Crowes’ look; he has a ways to go before he matches the Crowes’ hirsute lead singer but in letting his hair and beard grow out, Luther looks much scruffier than he has in the past.

The second half of the show took on a different dynamic with the inclusion of guitarist Alvin Youngblood Hart. Hart, who would make a potent WWE tag team with Chew, remained on stage for a healthy portion of the show. Although he brought some exceptional blues chops with him, his presence caused each of the individual Allstars to reign in what would had been working so splendidly in order to give Hart room to play. The quality of the performance didn’t diminish; it just changed.

The end of the set turned into a subtle seminar in classic rock seminar. The little flourishes weren’t trotted out like show ponies. Rather, with the exception of the “Moonlight Mile” tease during the intro to “Deep Blue Sea,” they could have easily escaped notice. Their devastating interpretation of “In My Time Of Dying” bore little resemblance to Led Zeppelin’s well-known version; going back to the song’s origins, Hart’s passionate vocals echoed the style of blues that Zeppelin used as their springboard and ultimately overshadowed. Further keeping things lively, Chew worked the bass line from Band of Gypsys “Who Knows” into “Snake Drive” and Luther teased Parliament’s “P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up).”

When they stepped to the forefront, Chew and Cody Dickinson provided some of the night’s more entertaining moments. Possibly the best singer in the band, Chew gave a proper Muddy Waters feel to “I’d Love To Be A Hippy” and his turn on “Lovelight” was much more focused than his attempt to curry favor with Giants fans by discussing their common bond through Ole Miss’ Eli Manning and Hernando’s own Kevin Dockery. Cody, who’s not a bad guitar player in his own right, came out front for a couple songs, taking lead on “Goin’ Home (Part 1).” His true star turn came during the encore. One of the few practitioners of the electrified washboard, Dickinson returned to the stage by himself and tore through “Psychedelic Sex Machine,” the Allstars showpiece for Dickinson’s bizarrely fascinating skill.

At the HighLine, the NMA put on an old fashioned, no-frills rock and roll show reverberating with the echoes of the Seventies, an era known for the plethora of bands that regularly modified the blues to suit their purposes. In the case of the Allstars, they’ve always strived to stay true to the art form; they may update traditional songs but they rarely opt to radically reinvent. The Allstars do it best on “Po Black Maddie/Skinny Woman,” their tribute to R.L. Burnside, one of their early influences. It’s been a staple of their sets for years and is always a highlight of any set they play. The music wasn’t the only way the Allstars stayed true to themselves. After nearly 2 ½ hours of blistering blues, Luther closed the show the only way that seemed natural: he thanked everyone for “coming out and shakin’ your ass on a Tuesday night.”

Labels: North Mississippi Allstars