By Andre Torrez
There wasn’t much love for the Flash Express when a boisterous dude in the audience shouted, “We don’t care about you! We care about him!" He was referring to Andre Williams, the headliner that night, Feb. 20, at Slim's.
Sadly, I got the feeling most of the audience agreed - the Los Angeles rock and soul outfit overstayed their welcome. Performing what seemed like an eternally lengthy set before returning to the stage as the Black Godfather’s backing band, Williams, in a show of solidarity to his support, coolly retorted to any stray hecklers, “Man, you paid too much money to fuck this up!” Laughter ensued and any bit of hostility was quelled by Mr. Rhythm.
Wearing a cherry red pinstripe zoot suit, complete with hat, Williams couldn’t have looked more like an pimped-out gangster. Still, even at his age, Williams had a radiant look about him, as if to scream, "I’m back!"
Granted, comebacks are currently all the rage, and that everybody loves a happy ending, but this isn’t your ordinary “my record sales are slumping” comeback. The masses never really cared about Williams’ records in the first place. This is a return to grace for the legendary soul vocalist and songwriter who won’t let a dark past of crack addiction and a brief stint of homelessness in the '80s hold him down. During his set and in between vocal parts, Williams glared at the audience, shifty-eyed, as if he were sizing us up.
Just as I expected, the sex appeal was brought into the show via full-figured female dancers at the wings of the stage. Two at a time, they took turns twirling nipple pasties, bending over and doing these amazing clapping moves, yet they weren’t using their hands - at all. These barely clad women were large and in charge, and they genuinely looked like they were having as much of a good time being up onstage as their audience was beholding them. Definite show-stealers.
Now in his seventies, you may wonder what business an old man like Williams has singing with flashy backup dancers pulling stripper-like moves. It does make for quite a contrast. Well, if you were paying any attention to Williams' songs, tunes such as “Jail Bait” and “Bacon Fat," you would be familiar with his affection for the perverse and crude, and you would know this is a man who's seen a lot in a hell-and-back sort of way. Williams is no spring chicken, but he can still work a crowded room of people 40 years his junior. I suppose it’s second nature when music was just another of your hustles.
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