Living Colour – Mill City Nights – Minneapolis, MN – November 1, 2013

AEG and Mill City Nights present Living Colour.
Written by Tracy Hansen. Photography by Kyle Hansen of RKH Images.

Mill City Nights kicks off the month of November with the return of the band, Living Colour. Living Colour is best known through the garnering of mainstream success with their album, “Vivid”, and more notably, the song, “Cult of Personality”. The band was celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the album, making the show all that much more of a significant event for both them and their droves of loyal fans.

The audience really made the evening more special than anything. Living Colour has appeared to have developed an incredible cult following throughout the world. Fans had come to the show from not only as far as northern Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, but even as far as Belfast, Ireland. There were people that had seen them earlier in the week in Las Vegas and were just as excited to see them again in Minneapolis. They are a very devoted group of fans, one that any band would be grateful to have.
When the show begins, the band introduces themselves with a fantastic rendition of Robert Johnson’s, “Preachin’ Blues”, getting the audience excited for what is to come. As the bluesy tune ends, they burst into the beginning of the “Vivid” album with “Cult of Personality”. In honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the album, they proceed to play it in its entirety. Anyone who knows the album knows that it ends with a cover of Lou Reed’s, “Walk on the Wild Side”, however, with the recent death of Lou Reed, the song feels like more of a dedication.

Listening to Corey Glover sing, you would swear that you were back in the late 1980’s. The man’s vocal range has not changed in the least, something that adds so much to the show. On guitar, Vernon Reid displays his incredible talent not only with the Living Colour music, but the blues of Robert Johnson as well. The band brings an incredible amount of intensity to the stage, which pumps up the audience, regardless of who they are. From this show alone, it appears that Living Colour is not going away in any sense. In fact, they may just start influencing a new generation of fans based on the talent shown at Mill City Nights. We know their fans aren’t leaving them – they’re some of the most dedicated people on the face of the planet.

Set List: Preachin’ Blues, Cult of Personality, I Want to Know, Middle Man, Desperate People, Open Letter (to a Landlord), Funny Vibes, Memories Can Wait, Broken Hearts, Glamour Boys, What’s Your Favorite Colour (Theme Song), Which Way to America, (Drum Solo), Walk on the Wild Side, Love Rears Its Ugly Head, Type, Times Up