JJ Grey & Mofro crossed the pond again for a large number of concerts in Europe on the occasion of the album Olustee, which was released last year.
In February 2024, the popular band released that album after 10 years and (fortunately) has been touring Europe more often, where many fans are eagerly awaiting the live concerts.
The band’s strength can be attributed in part to their steaming live performances. After the release of Olustee, it became clear that JJ Grey & Mofro continue to reinvent and renew their sound. Without compromising on quality. In this way, the band remains loyal to their fans.
The Pandora hall of TivoliVredenburg has been sold out for quite some time and the audience, young and old, is raring to go.
In the past few years, the band has been touring regularly in the Netherlands again and their fan base continues to grow. This European tour will last 15 dates but the band will return in the summer for concerts in the UK.
In addition to JJ Grey on vocals, guitar and harmonica, we see veteran and ever-smiling Todd Smallie on bass guitar, drummer Craig Barnette, Eric Brigmond on keys, trombone and vocals, guitarist Pete Winders, trumpeter Marcus Parsley, Kenny Hamilton on saxophone and percussionist Eric Mason.
The band is completed by singers Katie Dutton and Linzy Lauren, aka the Mofrosirens!
Frontman and namesake is John Higginbotham, from Jacksonville, Florida. This Lynyrd Skynyrd fan has been active in music since the 90s and has been influenced by soulful artists such as Toots Hibbert, Jerry Reed and Otis Redding.
JJ Grey’s southern roots resonate in everything. Of course we hear that in his beautiful lyrics, but also in his authentic, soulful music. It promises to be an evening full of blues, soul, funk and cool swamp rock.
At 8:30 PM sharp the lights go out. The evening is opened in a spectacular way by JJ; entering on a dark stage with only a dirty intro harmonica for the song Olustee.
Pete Winders quickly throws in a blazing guitar solo and even bassist Todd breaks with his somewhat passive role and goes for a real battle with Pete! Direct fireworks on stage!
Storyteller JJ Grey has a truly amazing voice and loves nothing more than to take us to his homeland through his personal life experiences and his love for music and nature.
Themes that we hear strongly on Olustee. His recognizable, passionate voice touches deeply, moves and moves time and again.
The sound is full-bodied, the two horns add extra spice to the already full sound. The groove takes over and practically no one can stand still to this music.
The rhythm section lays a stable foundation, wrapped in a very nice groove. This vibe meanders like a special energy through your body, straight to your heart. The room quickly becomes one seething mass of exuberant, dancing and singing people.
The fantastic band is truly “on fire” and this is clearly the strength of their performance. All band members are given space to excel and there is simply a lot of fun playing for these seasoned musicians.
And JJ Grey just dances nicely in between.
Then we hear that mighty harmonica intro of one of the most beautiful songs ever: Lochloosa. The room is completely silent as the harmonica sound slowly fades away and John starts singing. Goosebumps.
We are invited to sing along and we don’t need to be asked twice! The Mofrosirens also contribute a lot and are allowed to briefly display their vocal skills in the foreground.
The song Seminole Wind already sounds magnificent on the album, live this cover by John Anderson is even surpassed.
Beautifully sung and especially the trumpet solo is phenomenal and the song ends with a beautiful piano outro.
John also picks up his guitar every now and then, including for a magnificent performance of the song This River. He talks and sings about (his) alcohol addiction, about his ‘river of life’.
His voice is It is so intense and I am moved to tears, the audience is completely silent. The underlying message is to take time to return to yourself, to reflect and to focus on the important things in life. We know it, but we do it too little.
A special moment when JJ leans forward to a young fan in a wheelchair. A few words are exchanged and a signed harmonica, setlist and a guitar pick are handed to the fan. What a warm gesture.
Things lighten up a bit after that with the decidedly funky and especially danceable Rooster! (What is John’s thing about chickens?) Nicely woven into this song is a fierce drum break by percussionist and drummer.
It flows almost seamlessly into another funky song: Slow Hot and Sweaty, which ends beautifully with a jazzy trumpet solo. And we’ll stick with some female physical aspects for a while with the swinging On Fire.
With a suggestive and juicy accompanying story by JJ.
Not much later a large part of the band walks off stage and we are treated to a nice bass & drum solo, followed by the drum & percussion solo. Class!
When the band returns to the stage after a few minutes, we get another portion of excellent brass from Marcus and Kenny. Wonderful!
The tempo slows down a bit as the guitar is hung up for The Sun Is Shining Down. What a beautiful emotional song, sung so intensely and with razor-sharp guitar work by John.
And Pandora roars along! “Glory, glory, hallelujah, I’m alive…” JJ Grey not only knows how to touch us but also walks off the stage emotionally while the band ends this song in a magnificent way.
Lots of new songs tonight, but of course also songs from previous albums.
The performance of the now ten-person band is just as groovy, if not groovier than the first time I saw them, in 2012 in the Melkweg. A great collaboration, it steams, it fumes and it is simply one big party.
The fans dance and sing along at the top of their lungs and can’t get enough of it! The evening passes in a daze and I only see happy faces.
A long steaming, carefully composed set of no less than two hours and fifteen minutes, which is concluded with a cracker of an encore: Brighter Days, the song with which it all started for me in 2012. The circle is complete.
