More and more these days, when I’m scouring for shows to go to, I’m thinking about the smaller venues, the cheaper tickets ($40 and under) and the bands that may have reached a certain level of fame at one point, but have since found their fan-base distilled down to the diehards… for many bands, that can still be a significant audience… but lucky for us, not more than the Vic or the The Riviera can accommodate, venues known for great sound and an intimate size.

One such band is Living Colour, who reached the height of their fame in the late 80’s early 90’s with a string of hits including “Type”, “Solace of You” and their biggest, “Cult of Personality”, which charted as high as #13 in 1988. They were on the bill for the first Lollapalooza as well, so they go back… With a capacity of only 475 though, the Double Door seemed an odd choice of venue… the stage was almost too small for a band that uses a significant amount of gear in their performance. It was also hotter than hell, as it always is… you would think they could figure out a way to ventilate that space after all these years… but at $20 a ticket, this show was the hands-down bang-for-the-buck winner among the 20 or so shows I’ve seen in 2009.

Any minor annoyances quickly dissipated once Living Colour took the stage. In essence you have Vernon Reid, an extraordinary guitarist akin to Eddie Van Halen in terms of creativity and physical dexterity… also in common, these two guitarists require a certain type of rhythm section able to hold that bottom end when they meander, or literally take off, whichever the case may be… In the 4-string inventiveness of Doug Wimbish and the metronome-like, fill inflected drumming of Will Calhoun, Reid has such a rhythm section, which allows him all the space he needs to do his thing. Another point to note about Calhoun on drums are the ever-changing time signatures that he effortlessly transitions to and from which no doubt originate in the way Vernon Reid constructs the bands songs.

And then there’s front-man Corey Glover. When you listen to him live it dawns on you that this guy has one of the best, genre-spanning voices in rock music. With seething and screeches in the vein of Fugazi and Bad Brains to gospel melodies alluding to the Motown greats… Glover’s voice goes a long way, he also doesn’t seem to have lost any of his range or ability, all songs were in their original keys and Glover struggled with nothing. Unfortunately the one place Doug Wimbish can’t compete with original Living Colour bassist Muzz Skillingsis with the backing vocals… give him credit for giving it a go, but every time he sang, I wished he hadn’t.

The band hit the stage with a long string of hits including “Middleman”, “Type”, “Bi”, “Open Letter (To A Landlord)” and “Funny Vibe”… they occasionally transitioned from one song to the next with deftly executed cover song fragments including some Sly and the Family Stone. There was a bass solo that was actually pretty cool as Doug Wimbish came down into the crowd for some Parliament-style funkitude… but then a drum solo that felt like it went on a little too long… In all though, a nicely paced first third of the show.

From there, Vernon Reid grabbed a mic to announce the bands latest album, “The Chair in the Doorway”. He asked the audience whether it would be alright if they played some songs from the new disc which was met with enthusiasm… then some technical problems with the guitars caused about a 10 minute delay, before the band ripped through 6 of the new songs… two of which I really liked in “Decadance” and “Behind the Sun”. The new album is beginning to grow on me… not really strong throughout, but definitely with its high points.

Then on to the end of the show, once again filled with hits… “Glamour Boys” (arrgg), “Ignorance is Bliss”, “Time’s Up” and others before culminating with the “Cult of Personality” (see the video below)… the band then left the stage briefly before returning for a cover of Jimi Hendrix “Crosstown Traffic” dedicated to Buddy Miles before closing with a soulful version of “Love Rears its Ugly Head” to wrap things up. All told they played for 3 hours, 15 minutes which was exceptional for a $20 ticket. Weeks earlier, U2 played for an hour less than that at 13 times the ticket price…

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the opening band, Sekund Skyn (I think that’s the right spelling). These guys more scalded eardrums than they warmed-up the crowd. The band wasn’t that bad, but their front-man (pictured at left) struck as I guy who’s not really a musician, but a place was found for him because everyone thinks he’s a cool guy. He mostly shouted, rarely sang, made sure you saw his sweat glistened 6-pack abs and said some variant of the word “fuck” far too often, mostly injecting it into the wrong part of the sentence… for example, “Fuckin Chicago, you rock fuckers… enjoy this song bitches…” That’s verbatim… he sucked…

Anyhow, Living Colour… great band, great show… these guys are journeymen… honing their craft and getting better with age… I’m telling you, focus on these more intimate shows… you’ll no doubt leave feeling much more satisfied than you ultimately would from shows at the United Center or the Allstate Arena. I’m convinced that live music simply can’t be experienced at the large-capacity venues, they’re just too big.

The following video wasn’t taken at Double Door this past Sunday… but it was a semi-recent performance at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, NL… so it’s representative of what Living Colour look and sound like these days. An inspired performance and a great example of the rhythm section holding down the fort while Vernon takes off…