Crossroads show features him with own band, and with Vernon Reid

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At the Crossroads nightclub in Garwood, June 26, Corey Glover and Vernon Reid — bandmates in Living Colour since the ’80s — took a moment to reflect on their many years together.

“You’re witnessing another chapter in our ongoing struggle,” said Reid, drawing laughs from the crowd. Both men then joked about their long association, lengthening the word “long” to absurd lengths, for comic effect.

“It’s kind of incredible,” said Reid, before continuing, as if asking a question, “It’s been … fun?”

“We have had some times,” Reid said.

“And times have had us!” Glover responded.

In spite of comedic exchanges like this, there was no animosity to be seen onstage. In fact, the two gave the impression of two musicians who still get a kick out of working with each other, after four decades.

And why not? Glover, 61, still has a powerful voice and a commanding stage presence, while Reid, 67, is still an endlessly inventive guitarist, unleashing flurries of notes where most instrumentalists would settle for something far simpler. It was a long show with no virtually wasted moments, and quite a few revelatory ones. On Jimi Hendrix’s “The Wind Cries Mary,” for instance, Reid built complex, jazzy circles around the main melody; on the Living Colour song “Open Letter (To a Landlord),” Glover held notes for seemingly superhuman lengths of time.

Living Colour still performs together occasionally, and there has even been talk of a new album (which would be their first since 2017’s Shade). But the Crossroads show was not a Living Colour concert. Glover performed two sets with his five-piece band The Soul Experience. And in between them, Glover and Reid presented a two-man acoustic set. For the four encores, Reid reappeared, adding a second guitar to The Soul Experience.

JAY LUSTIG

Corey Glover, left, and Vernon Reid at Crossroads.

As their band name suggested they would, Glover and The Soul Experience (saxophonist Neal Spitzer, guitarist Dan Kottmann, keyboardist Jeremy Baum, bassist Trevor Brown and drummer Cleveland Best) stuck mostly to classic soul, R&B and pop-soul material, including The Temptations’ “Just My Imagination” (with added high-pitched wailing) and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” Al Green’s “Tired of Being Alone,” The Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody” and Sam & Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Comin’.” But the band also performed some songs Glover has written and recorded as a solo artist (“Little Girl,” “April Rain”) and ventured far from classic-soul territory, most notably when they closed their first set with The Eagles’ “Take It to the Limit.”

The vibe turned celebratory as the show wound down, with The Soul Experience turning into a hard-working party band for the last two songs of the third set (“634-5789,” “Shake”) and two of the encores (“Turn on Your Love Light,” “Got My Mojo Workin’ “).

The encores also included a majestic version of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” and Living Colour’s “Love Rears Its Ugly Head.” Other Living Colour material, including “Glamour Boys” and “Middle Man,” made it into the loose acoustic set, during which Reid (playing an acoustic guitar) and Glover sat on stools and joked around quite a bit between songs.

Even in a cover-heavy show, Glover remained true to Living Colour’s strategy of mixing thought-provoking lyrics with hard-hitting music, with songs such as Stevie Wonder’s “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” a slow and delicate take on Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ “Wake Up Everybody” complementing the messages in the songs written by him and Reid.

At the same time, the casual format of the acoustic set gave fans the kind of intimate glimpse of Glover and Reid — as musical collaborators but also as friends, with a brotherly bond — that they wouldn’t get at a Living Colour show.

“People want to hear music,” said Reid, during one of the between-song exchanges that went on for quite awhile, with Reid accusing Glover of making up stories. “They don’t want to hear about our dirty laundry.”

“Yes they do!” said Glover.

JAY LUSTIG

Vernon Reid with saxophonist Neal Spitzer, at Crossroads.

Here is the show’s setlist:

Corey Glover & the Soul Experience
“Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”
“Hold On, I’m Comin’ ”
“Tired of Being Alone”
“Little Girl”
“To Love Somebody”
“Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
“Take It to the Limit”

Corey Glover & Vernon Reid
“Leave It Alone”
“The Wind Cries Mary”
“Middle Man”
“Glamour Boys”
“Grandma’s Hands”
“Redemption Song”
“Hallelujah”
“Open Letter (To a Landlord)”

Corey Glover & the Soul Experience
“Wake Up Everybody”
“You Haven’t Done Nothin’ ”
“April Rain”
“The Letter”
“634-5789”
“Shake”

Encore (Corey Glover & the Soul Experience + Vernon Reid)
“Turn on Your Love Light”
“Love Rears Its Ugly Head”
“Got My Mojo Workin’ ”
“A Change Is Gonna Come”

Here are some videos from the show:

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