Review: Lenny Kravitz @ Irving Plaza, NYC

Lenny Kravitz, Irving Plaza, Sunday October 11, 2009 

It’s hard to believe that 2009 represents the 20^th anniversary of Lenny Kravitz’s debut album Let Love Rule.  Has it really been that long since the erstwhile dread-locked one shed the moniker Romeo Blue and first graced the musical world with his signature mélange of 60s and 70s pop, rock and soul? Damn it. It has, and I’m getting old. In any case, to commemorate the occasion, earlier this year Virgin Records reissued a deluxe version of the album featuring new remixes and unreleased tracks, and now along comes the obligatory tour of the US in support of this release.   

Although a native New Yorker (as is well known, Kravitz is the son of Roxie Roker, who starred on the sitcom the Jeffersons), Kravitz has spent the majority of the past few years living in Paris. He hasn’t toured on this side of the Atlantic since an aborted mini-tour early in 2008 in support of his latest release It Is Time for a Love Revolution (health issues resulted in the cancellation of a number of dates). This, the opening show of a five night residency at Irving Plaza, was thus a sort of homecoming for Kravitz, a point which he would stress throughout the night. But the fact that Kravitz spends most of his time in France, rather than the States, places him firmly in a long line of African-American musicians who were somewhat slighted in their native land and only found true acceptance and appreciation in Europe.   

The under-appreciation of Kravitz in the States is well documented by the diminishing album sales he has experienced there since the release of his 1998 album 5. This decline is even more precipitous than can be accounted for by the general sales slump the record industry has endured in the 2000s as a result of, among other things, the advent of mp3s and the proliferation of illegal file sharing, since his record sales worldwide, where each of his last three albums has sold in excess of one million copies, have not fallen anywhere near as dramatically.   

Nevertheless, in his heyday in the 90s, and even today by the few who pay him any attention, Kravitz, along with bands like the Black Crowes, was often unfairly dismissed as a retro-nostalgia act when he wasn’t being flat-out accused of ripping off Jimi Hendrix. All of which I think is to miss the point of what Kravitz is about.  

Sure, it’s easy to look at Kravitz and see a black guy with a guitar playing some funky riffs and think of Hendrix – but this notion results from some seriously lazy thinking. Although he is an accomplished musician on multiple instruments, Kravitz’s music is rarely a vehicle for virtuosic wankery. Indeed, a better comparison of Kravitz’s music , then, is with that of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, in their more tuneful moments, and the classic r&b and soul music of Motown and Stax. In other words, what Kravitz is peddling is a bunch of well crafted pop songs intended to hook the listener and offer a psychedelically blissful escape from the real world for about 3 minutes and 30 seconds.  More often than not Kravitz has succeeded in this endeavor as the hits littered throughout his body of work testify. And if his music is reminiscent of the Beatles, Zeppelin, Motown and Stax, so what? Those were some of the greatest pop records of the 20^th century.  It’s pretty good company to keep.  

Armed with a slew of catchy, hook-filled pop songs, Kravitz and company took the stage at Irving Plaza seemingly with the mission of making up for the long interval between stateside shows. And they certainly delivered.  

Opening up with “Freedom Train,”  a groove-oriented number from Let Love Rule, the band established a funky vibe that would permeate the set.  This particular number and a funk jam played later in the set that seemed to be based around the main riff of “Will You Marry Me” a track from It Is Time For a Love Revolution showed off the flexibility of the backing band, who performed with that tight but loose groove that characterizes the performances of the best live bands, including the Stones and Zeppelin in their prime. The band’s classic lineup of drums, bass and guitar with Kravitz singing and also playing guitar was supplemented by keyboards, percussion and a horn section whose members were given the spotlight in solo passages sprinkled throughout the set. 

Although the tour is ostensibly in honor of the 20^th anniversary of Let Love Rule, the set-list contained a representative sample of hits from almost the entirety of Kravitz’s catalogue and even included his cover of the Guess Who’s “American Woman.” Only songs from Kravitz’s 1995 album, Circus, were left out of the mix. Particular standouts during the main set included the soulful “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” from 1991’s Mama Said, which recalls the r&b of mid-70s Curtis Mayfield and “I Belong to You,” an electro-funk slowjam from 5 that could have been a Prince song.  

The biggest hits, including “Fly Away” and an incendiary version of “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” the title cut from Kravitz 1993 blockbuster album, were reserved for the end of the set and the encores, which also featured an extended take of “Let Love Rule” that featured an audience sing along. Special mention needs to be made of the guitar work of longtime Kravitz sideman, Craig Ross, whose solo on “Believe” contained all the attitude, melodic sensibility and tastefulness of Jimmy Page at his best and elevated the song and the show as a whole into the stratosphere.  

The audience ate all of this up, bopping along to the grooves laid down by the band. Although Kravitz’s material is intended for arenas and larger venues, the packed confines of Irving Plaza brought a level of intimacy to the proceedings which suited the performance well. Kravitz was greeted as a returning hero by the New York crowd who left the venue in high spirits. Here’s hoping that Kravitz takes his band out on an extended tour in support of his forthcoming album Negrophilia. 

Nick Fokas