Hello Beijing Cream readers. My name is Morgan and I work at this other website called Smart Beijing, wherein we specialize in lighting up the stage and waxing chumps like they wuz candles. The Tao is outsourcing these Friday Musical Outros to me so he can focus on getting his hair did by local heavy metal musicians.
Damn, it’s nice outside today, eh? So happy to be stuck at a computer writing this!
Anyways, so this sick, turbo awesome funk soul band called LMT Connection snuck into Temple bar last night to kick off their China tour — it’s the “Great Wall of Funk Tour,” of course — and the three-piece is traveling back and forth between Beijing and Shanghai and a few outlying neighboring cities spreading the word. The word of the funk, son. Bopping people with their bop guns. They were pretty incredible. They are pretty incredible.
The featured video this week is them opening for BB King at BB King’s 80th birthday concert tour a few years back in Niagra in Canada. The drummer for LMT Connection tells this great story of this concert and he pulled it out at the bar last night. So, BB King was already in a wheelchair at this point — he’s 80 years old — and he gets wheeled out to the crowd of thousands. This elder statesman-type figure holding that famous guitar. Hushed silence. Then he just hits one sustained note on his instrument and holds it — just one note — waaaaahh — holding it — and the entire crowd rises to a standing ovation. BB King is the man.
LMT Connection have been around since the late ’80s, playing a classicist jazzy funk with a big helping of soul (Motown) and a bit of blues. According to their bio, they’ve played over 4,000 shows. You can tell. Incredible live act. Trust me on this.
Your humble Beijing Cream correspondent caught the lead singer, Leroy Emmanue, taking a piss in the bathroom after the show. This guy’s played with Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight. I was like, “Holy shit, you guys are the best” blah, blah, blah.
He zips up his pants and goes, “Thank you my soul brother.”
Awesome.
Here’s their remaining Beijing dates:
May 12 Cafe CD Blues, 7 pm
May 13 East Shore Live Jazzz, 9:30 pm
May 14 Hot Cat Club, 9 pm
May 16 Xi’an, 9 pm
Morgan is the editor of Smart Beijing and fake DJs around town. Suggestions for Friday Music Send Outs and feedback to editor@smartbeijing.com.
LMT Connection in Beijing!? You’re blowing my mind. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen these guys live — not so much because of the sheer number (which is large), but because their regular gig in Niagara Falls was a $5 pitcher of beer night.
The fact that they’re in China is enough to make me consider hoping on a plane off this island down south and coming up to the big cities for a show.
You’re not wrong, they are incredible.
Thank god for original music, getting real sick of the beijing beatles every time we go to a party.