#SundaySongDay — ‘Stay Away’ by Charles Bradley

The Phoenix was hot, actually hot doesn’t come close to describing it, more like a brick sauna in the deep south in July, only with five hundred sweaty, impatient people and overpriced drinks.

We’d been waiting for hours, no word on whether the show was even going to happen or what was causing the holdup. The DJ who’d been hired to keep the crowd entertained was looking concerned, security was looking menacing and the bartenders were looking damn happy.

House and stage lights went down, the Menahan Street Band shuffled on stage and bandleader Mike Deller stepped into the mic and told us that there’d been some issues at the border but Charles would be coming on soon.

As the band started warming themselves up through a set of instrumentals a figure emerged from backstage. The man himself, the screaming eagle of soul Mr. Charles Bradley.

Insert whatever superlative you want, this show was that with some extra mustard and hot sauce on the side.

Bradley passed away a few years after the gig, and I never saw him after that night. I figured that expecting the next show to top the first experience would be unfair to the artist, and better to let someone else have my spot in the room than to make unfair comparisons to that magical night.

So try your best to sit still, with this installment of our #SundaySongDay featuring a killer cover of Nirvana’s ‘Stay Away’ performed by Charles Bradley. You’re welcome.