# the New Orleans Suspects; MJ's Brass Boppers at Leo's Music Club, December 5, 2014

[Parish Entertainment Group](http://www.clubleos.com/event/661259) presents [the New Orleans Suspects](http://www.neworleanssuspects.com/) with [MJ's Brass Boppers](http://www.mjsbrassboppersband.com/)  
2014-12-05  
[Leo's Music Club](http://www.clubleos.com/)  
[5447 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=5447+Telegraph+Ave,+Oakland,+CA+94609&hl=en)  
9:00 PM, Friday, December 5, 2014

[[2014-12-04_2|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2014|Up to the 2014 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2014#December_events|Up to the 2014 event list!]] ☸  [[2014-12-06_1|On to the next event!]] 

## Set One: MJ's Brass Boppers

[9:m PM lights down, announcements]

01. [9:2m PM] Camouflage
02. [9:26 PM] I'm Walkin'
03. [9:32 PM] Don't Start No Shit
04. [9:41 PM] Voo Doo
05. [9:47 PM] Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
06. [9:55 PM] Horn.Jam
07. [9:59 PM] Boppers Party >
08. [10:04 PM] Do What You Wanna >
09. [10:09 PM; +Willie Green: cowbell] Funkin' It Up  
[set ends 10:15 PM]

## Set Two: Suspects

[10:35 PM lights down, announcements from Jeff about tonight's fish fry]

01. [10:37 PM] Blackbird Special
02. [10:48 PM] Classified
03. [10:53 PM] She's Got It All
04. [11:00 PM] Jump Steady
05. [11:07 PM] Tangled Up in Blue
06. [11:19 PM] What Is Success? >>
07. [11:25 PM] Swamp Thing
08. [11:33 PM] 36 Cars
09. [11:41 PM] Magdalena >>
10. [11:52 PM] Smoke My Peace Pipe
11. [12:02 PM] Them Changes
12. [12:09 AM] Yo Flambeaux!
13. [12:14 AM] Tipitina  
[set ends 12:25 AM; off for a moment]  
   
**Encore**
14. [12:27 PM] Willie's Second Line  
[show ends 12:34 AM]


## Performers

### the New Orleans Suspects

[the New Orleans Suspects](http://www.neworleanssuspects.com/)

* Jake Eckert: guitar, lead and harmony vox;
* "Mean" Willie Green: drums;
* C R Gruver: keyboards, lead and harmony vox;
* Reggie Scanlan: bass;
* Jeff Watkins: tenor saxophone.

### MJ's Brass Boppers

[MJ's Brass Boppers](http://www.mjsbrassboppersband.com/)

  * Big Chief Ray Blazio: percussion, chant, dance;
  * Hussain Cox: trombone;
  * Greg Gomez: trombone, harmony vox;
  * Michael Jones: drum, percussion, lead and harmony vox;
  * ?Luke Kirley?: sousaphone;
  * ?Naazir Magbool: trumpet , harmony vox;
  * Mike Waters: tenor saxophone, harmony vox;
  * Harold "Homeboy" Wilson: bass drum, percussion, lead and harmony vox.

## Notes

Nice to try out a new space. Leo's is a more conventional box shape with high ceilings, broken up by slight variations in the walls and floor reflecting the cobbled together nature of the interior space. Seemed great, though the many small variations in floor height are somewhat disconcerting -- my guess is that many drinks will be spilled by unsteady patrons toppling into one another!

Sonically, the room was pretty good. With a small Meyer PA and monitors, you know they're aiming high; hopefully the house or Meyer did some of that fancy pants SMAART analysis to be sure to dial things in and tame any weird resonances from the room geometry. I thought it sounded good, though not excellent, but I experienced the show from a less than stellar listening position in the front -- probably too far underneath the PA throw to really shine. It certainly sounded good when I was further back in the room.

MJ's Brass Boppers opened up the show with a brief set of sloppy brass funk. It was fun, but I'm glad we'll get different folks tomorrow, just for variety's sake.

Surprisingly, it seemed to me that some of the folks present for the opener had cleared out by the time Suspects took the stage. Guess they don't know what's good for 'em or something. Seems silly to show up for the opener and then bail out before the main event, but I suppose everyone has their own reasons for this n that.

The Suspects delivered a fine set, starting off with a blast through the instrumental, _Blackbird Special_, and maintaining a fiery pace all the way through to the closer, _Willies Second Line_ some two hours later. Then boys really know how to deliver the goods, and I'm glad to be coming back tomorrow night; it'll be interesting to hear another set!

{{tag>music the_New_Orleans_Suspects Leo's_Music_Club Jake_Eckert "Mean"_Willie_Green C_R_Gruver Reggie_Scanlan Jeff_Watkins MJ's_Brass_Boppers Big_Chief_Ray_Blazio Greg_Gomez Michael_Jones Luke_Kirley Naazir_Magbool Mike_Waters Harold_"Homeboy"_Wilson}}

[[2014-12-04_2|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2014|Up to the 2014 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2014#December_events|Up to the 2014 event list!]] ☸  [[2014-12-06_1|On to the next event!]]