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Thundercat’s Drunk tour stopped at the Magic Stick Theatre in Detroit Sunday night and the musician/ songwriter and his band charmed the audience with music from his new album and older releases. Dennis Hamm and Justin Brown joined Thundercat on keyboards and drums and they made the setlist glow with a gravity of sound that can only come from playing together over time. Drunk was released on Friday and the audience already knew the words to “Friend Zone” and the first few notes of “Them Changes” created an instant call and response reaction. Thundercat played most songs true to form but they all took enough solos to show their genuine love of the craft. Those moments outside the neatness of their songs traveled into quick mild abstractions that swiftly came back to the song’s structure. At one point, Motown songwriter Leon Ware, who just passed, was acknowledged with a performance of “Tokyo” from Drunk. Thundercat explained to the audience that Tokyo”is about his first time traveling to Tokyo and Ware was with him. He later performed a few minutes of Kendrick Lamar’s “Complexion (A Zulu Love)” which is one of the songs he co-produced on Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly. After two hours and two encores, Thundercat and his band had thrilled the crowd with an overview of his career cheered on by a very appreciative audience.
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