Robert Randolph blows Axis crowd away

He wears a cowboy hat, has the baby face of Indiana Pacer Jermaine O'Neal, the smirk of rapper 50 Cent and man, can Robert Randolph wail on the slide guitar. He plays it with such simplicity you'd swear he was jamming on a plastic Fisher Price instrument. Pedal steel guitars are generally typical of country or southern rock bands, and being a native of a rough New Jersey town, it is a wonder Randolph even picked up the instrument. But he has mastered it and has since put his own musical stamp on the instrument, embracing everything from his gospel roots to Stevie Ray Vaughn-style blues to old school funk to the guitar virtuosity of Clapton and Hendrix. \nAlong with his rhythm section trio consisting of smooth plucking, funk slapping bassist and high pitch gospel singer Danyel Morgan (Randolph's cousin), the solid, powerful drumming of Marcus Randolph (also a cousin) and the glossy keyboard styling of Jason Crosby, Randolph and the Family Band had the audience moving with every beat through the entire performance. The band did an excellent job of including the crowd throughout the performance. During one number, Randolph invited some 20 ladies onstage for a song and dance, and a few songs later he had two crowd members come up one at a time to play lead guitar during a slow jam. \nImmediately following, the band pulled out an extended version of an early Led Zeppelin tune, "Good Times Bad Times," to which Randolph's steel guitar played the vocal melody. Hendrix's "Purple Haze" was the next number as Randolph paid homage to some of his influences. Among the original tunes played were "Nobody," which started the evening off, "Problems," sung with soulful emotion by Morgan and "Shake Your Hips," an obvious crowd favorite. \nAt one point in the evening Randolph demonstrated his musical versatility when he took a seat at the drum set, and his cousin took to the slide guitar. Soon after, he picked up the bass and plucked at it for a while before returning to his guitar. \nIn such a short time, Robert Randolph and his Family Band have gained major notoriety in the music business. The band has opened for Karl Denson, Soulive, most recently Eric Clapton, and it played the huge festival Bonnarroo this past summer. And the band is well deserving of this fame, because not only did they put on a flawless show at Axis but they had fun doing it.