Cherry Poppin' Daddies -- The Hamilton - Aug 17 2013

Cherry Poppin' Daddies - After a lovely walk from the Kennedy Center, I settled in to this comfortable slick old school night club. And the Cherry Poppin' Daddies in their natty suits, zoot or otherwise, are the perfect band for this club on a Saturday night. They feature a core trio of rock instruments with another trio of brass and reed along with a lead singer who has the range and power to pull it all together. Actually, the band is very tight and knows exactly what they are doing. And they avoid taking a comfortable path, as they somehow manage to bring out songs from the jazz age of the roaring 20's through 50's rock'n'roll and even approach surf pop in the early 60's. They keep things swinging whether jazz, rock, or big band done small but loud and forceful. The dance floor gets a workout with a few couples or with a full floor on one that everyone knew, "Fly Me to the Moon". That song reminded me of the Bennett/Sinatra-style show from either the Rainbow Room or Las Vegas. They did two sets with a break that was a little long (45 minutes) that likely was not of their choosing. But they offered plenty of songs, styles, pace, volume for all dancing styles and all tastes. They managed to bring it all together in cohesive sound with just enough flair and lots of energy. This gave me a similar feeling of sitting at home watching an old movie or some old classic sitcom on TVLand (as opposed to watching something that embarrassed you to have lived in that era). If you want to stick to indie rock, head elsewhere, but if you want a history on how we got here, I can not think of too many bands better to see than the Cherry Poppin' Daddies.