The Zulus

The Paradise, Brighton, MA

Sept 3, 2021

The Return of the Zulu Nation

The Zulus

A large percentage of the local rock and roll wanderers came in from the plague-ridden diaspora to welcome the kings of the Zulu nation at the carded and masked Paradise last night. After a 24 year hiatus and two years of snafu delays, the Zulus finally hit the stage. Yes, as Ernie Ford noted, everyone was another day older and deeper in debt but that only seemed to add to the electricity in the room. Even the big poles seemed glad to be there.
Setlist
The setlist

The band took the stage and slammed into the trifecta of "Kings in the Queen City", "Hard Row to Hoe" and "Got it". Gauntlet thrown. The audience didn't need a road map to nirvana and howled their approval. Thirty years ago a pit would have erupted. The dance is more genteel circa 2021 but everyone taps, twitches, or uses their head to workout their neck muscles. Even masked you can tell everyone is smiling. It's in their eyes.

Larry Bangor

The sound is excellent throughout. When Rich pings a quick run of delicate harmonics you hear them ring. When he slams the chords or takes those still jaw drop solos you feel them. The same is true for Malcolm's ripped fills and cracking snare. Rich Cortese's bass is big, melodic, and clear, whether in the pocket, poking slyly around the beat, or kicking lockstep with the drums. Larry's voice is in fine form. He has always been a master of an arch, conversational style with a rangy conspiratorial whisper, a serpent tongue storyteller with an eye-bulging scream. Whether he's exorcising internal, interpersonal, or external demons his heart is always only slightly obscured on his sleeve as he offers you his arm for a walk on the wild side.

Rich Gilbert

The club was about 3/4 full. Given the public cancellations I saw on social media, I suspect it would have been a sell-out in less worrisome times. That said, the vax card requirement at the door and the masking requirement inside did their bit to provide a strong attempt to keep people safe under tough circumstances. Compliance was high though occasionally intermittent - have a sip of your drink, forget to put the mask back until you see someone scowl at you. Mea culpa, Mea culpa, Mea maxima culpa. People have been doing their best to give us safe rock in the hopefully short-term new world - fist bumps to Once, The Midway, Rum Bar, Red on Red, The Paradise; Sally O'Brien's and the Jungle. It's not perfect, most people seem to want to be part of the solution. Hey, it's a moving target.

Malcolm Travis

If you had a favorite Zulus' song, they probably played it during the two sets, 26-ish song marathon. Never Enough, check. "Hector and Lynn", check. "Can't Wait to Tell You the News", check. "Burn Up", "Desired Effect", "Success", check check check. Every now and again they would toss in a slow-burn like "Totem Pole" and "Big D" to let us breathe (Larry, "We're going to do it like Tina Turner, nice and easy, then rough").

Rich Cortese

"Faith" was the centerpiece of the encore. It capped off what will surely be one of the top shows of a truncated year. It couldn't have hit harder. Apropos to the passage of time, the state of music, and the state of the world. You gotta have FAITH. It was great to have a collective reason to share it.