I saw a fantastic concert last night by Chuck Prophet and his band, the Mission Express. I’ve enjoyed his albums for quite some time, but this was my first time seeing him live and he crushed it out of the park. He looked a bit like Andy Kaufman, tall and skinny and resplendent in a suit that was some sort of pinkish-red. (I’m sure Sherwin-Williams has a name for the color, but I don’t.)
Chuck and his killer band (which includes his wife Stephanie Finch on keyboards, James DePrato on lead guitar, Kevin T. White on bass and Vicente Rodriguez on drums) rocked the Southgate House Revival (which is an old church) with a religious fervor. They played several tunes from his stellar new album, Night Stalker. Here’s a recent live in-studio performance they did at KEXP in Seattle, featuring 3 songs from the new release, as well as a tune he co-wrote with Alejandro Escovedo.
Chuck is a true road warrior – just a man and his band in a van. He even sings an ode to their mode of transportation on the new album with his song “Ford Econoline.” It would be easy to become jaded playing night after night in small clubs, but Chuck appeared to be enjoying himself immensely, even coming into the crowd to play guitar during his song “Willie Mays Is Up at Bat.” If Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express come to your town… and trust me, they will… please go check them out. You’ll love them. And “Love Is The Only Thing.”
I didn’t even know MySpace still existed, but apparently it does, and you can check out more Chuck there.
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