Escort @ U Street Music Hall - 2/3/17
For an hour and a half, U Street Music Hall became Studio 54. Contemporary disco band and well-oiled machine Escort came with one goal in mind: to get people dancing on a Friday night. In doing so, the six-piece group, fronted by keyboardist Eugene Cho and singer/bassist Adeline Michele, took U Hall back a few decades to a time where big hair, light-up dance floors, and funky bass lines ruled the day.
From start to finish, Michele and her two backup singers channeled the spirit of Donna Summer. Their well-choreographed moves and her impressive vocal range had the crowd in awe, especially during the chorus of “My Life”. Though the horns that made their debut album so enjoyable were absent, the rest of the band compensated with Chic-like guitar riffs and enough snares and hi-hats to get everyone moving.
Escort's Adeline Michele getting down at U Street Music Hall in Washington, DC - 2/3/17 (Photo by Mauricio Castro/@TheMauricio)
The band played old favorites like “Cocaine Blues” and newer ones like “Body Talk,” but the highlight of the night was an homage to a few notable disco and dance classics. Even if you didn’t know the names, you knew the songs. Some notable covers included “Good Life” by Inner City, “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)” by Crystal Waters, and “There but for the Grace of God Go I” by Machine. They played song after song without a break, ensuring that the dancing wouldn’t stop until the very end.
The question is simple: do you like to dance? Do you wish more singers matched the poise grace and of singers from the disco era? Then you need to see Escort in concert. Michele is the quintessential disco frontwoman for the modern age, and there is no better group out there right now that can take people back to the 70s as well as Escort.
