Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO) opening for Galactic at The Roseland was an amazing experience. ALO started off a few years ago in Southern California as a small, local jam-band kind of band, full of energy, great rhythm and music and talent. The local following has always been huge, but then they began getting big breaks in the music industry and began to perform at large three-day festivals such as Wakarusa. Not only that, they have opened for the likes of Dave Matthews Band and Jack Johnson. This month, they came to Portland on their last day opening for Galactic. It was magical.
Galactic is becoming a classic cult band! Originally from New Orleans, they are a psychedelic/electronic combination of hip hop, big band, blues, and rock. All of these genres put together make for a few-words/lots-of-high-energy-instruments kind of experience for a night of funk and nonstop dancing. They have a dedicated light engineer who added an amazing visual element to the tunes. As a photographer, a stage enveloped in always-changing crazy lights turning on and off from every direction makes my job pretty damn difficult. As an audience member, however, it was a necessary shock to the senses.
Galactic started out as an octet back in 1994 and has since travelled the world performing to sold-out crowds. They are often seen and heard performing with equally legendary bands such as Widespread Panic, The Allman Brothers, and BB King. One of the perks of seeing Galactic live is that one never knows who the guest musician will be. They are very social and open to collaboration. Their newest album is called Ya-Ka-May, and it was the main focus of this particular show. It is a sort of homage to New Orleans and her myriad of musicians. On stage this day was a member of the Rebirth Brass Band, who added an awesomely high-energy loud and funky trombone to the already colorful combination of perfectly loud, big-band-style instruments in Galactic.
This was an all-around amazing show! Do not miss their next tour! You will NOT be disappointed!