Saun & Starr Shining in Kreuzberg

It was a full hour after the scheduled time that the five-piece band of Saun & Starr, singers Saundra Williams and Starr Duncan Lowe, entered the stage at Bi Nuu to play a couple of soul tracks harking back to the 70s, circa early Philadelphia International Records. Trumpet and sax guaranteed some crisp and tight harmonic twists.

Saun & Starr "Look Closer"The two singers presented material from their debut album “Look Closer”, opening up with the catchy, grooving “Hot Shot” and showing right away that they both owned the stage. Tracks like the witty “Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah” or the reggaefied “Gonna Make Time” all worked extremely well and came over with abundant joy and sass. Both singers work as background vocalists for Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and their music and choice of material comes close to what Sharon does.

But they had more to offer: the band left the stage for Saun & Starr to perform two gospel classics: “Down By The Riverside” and “Sweeping Through The City” were reminders of their youth when they sang in church in the South Bronx. And both did exceptionally well. Some of the songs, which are all pretty short anyway, had strangely abrupt endings that sounded a bit off kilter to me but the show as a whole had a good sequence with an occasional ballad thrown in, like the heartbreaking “If Only”.

The show ended after about an hour with the formidable title track of their album. The fact that you don’t see a concert pic on this page is due to lack of communication with the management.

Now if someone could stop the brutal policy of starting shows a full hour behind schedule. Oh and cheers to the woman at coat check. Her inability to show some flexibility together with downright silliness usually make up for an unbearable, dangerous combination.

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