Charles Bradley and The Menahan Street Band at the Echo: May 4, 2011

When asked by music blog Rollo and Grady to shoot Charles Bradley at the Echo this past Wednesday night, I had no idea who he was. This is often the case these days when I'm sent out on a music shoot. Frankly, the name sounded like it could belong to a basketball player. I did find out later through some research that there was a former Boston Celtics player of the same name, so I wasn't too far off. But upon finding out Charles Bradley's record label was a subset of Daptone Records, it was all I needed to know I would be in for a treat.

Living a lot farther from Los Angeles than I used to be, plus just being plain older, makes one less apt and able to grab the camera equipment for a late evening of music. With no true opener except for a DJ, I arrived plenty early to secure a spot up front for the show.

Finally taking the stage 30 minutes after he was scheduled to, the band put on a fierce, sweaty, show for the young crowd. Charles Bradley seemed genuinely moved and touched by everyone in the venue, and expressed his love several times throughout the evening.

Reminding me of James Brown, Bradley shook all that he had and then some, so much so that his knee started to bleed through his white pants!

It was completely captivating. How can you not smile when you see a man in his 60s decides to stage dive into the crowd for his finale??

Some shots from the evening: