Soulive returned to the Brooklyn Bowl stage on Friday night for the fifth performance of their six-night Bowlive VIII run, and the jazz-funk trio welcomed legendary bassist George Porter Jr., who helped the group run through a number of tunes from Porter’s iconic band, funk godfathers The Meters.

As with the rest of the Bowlive nights, Soulive kicked off the show with a run of tunes as just a trio, starting with “So Live” and charging though “Steppin,” their signature cover of The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” and their newer tune “Waves.” Drummer Alan Evans then introduced “The King of Bowlive,” and Porter emerged to guest on covers of The Meters’ “Pungee” and “Africa” before the quartet closed the set with the oft-covered New Orleans classic “Iko Iko.”

Set two kept the Meters love flowing with “Look-Ka Py Py,” “Keep On Marching,” “I Need More Time,” “What’cha Say” and “He Bite Me (The Dragon)” before moving into a cover of the Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead favorite “Sugaree,” a song that Porter has expressed love for and one he fits into many of his sit ins. The bassist then led Soulive into an energetic rendition of Bobby Bland’s “Turn On Your Love Light,” with Porter shouting out the late Col. Bruce Hampton. The set wrapped up with fan-favorite “It Ain’t No Use,” and Soulive and Porter later returned to round out the evening with an encore of The Meters’ cut “Just Kissed My Baby.”

Check out the full setlist below, along with a couple of fan-shot videos from the night. Soulive return to Brooklyn Bowl tonight to close out Bowlive VIII with guests Sam Kininger, Tash Neal, James Casey, Danny Mayer and Brian Thomas.


Soulive
Brooklyn Bowl – Brooklyn, NY

Set I: So Live, Steppin, Eleanor Rigby, Waves, Pungee*, Africa*, Iko Iko*

Set II: Look-Ka Py Py*, Keep On Marching*, I Need More Time*, What’cha Say*, He Bite Me (The Dragon)*, Sugaree*, Turn On Your Love Light, It Ain’t No Use*

Enc: Just Kissed My Baby*

Notes: * w/ George Porter Jr.