Brother Wallace Throws Afternoon Dance Party At Free At Noon

Brother Wallace dropped by WXPN Friday for a barnburner of a Free At Noon performance, delivering show that hearkened to the old days of Motown, soul, and gospel.

The Georgia-based artist, real name Chris Wallace, came through Philly while supporting St. Paul & The Broken Bones, who played at The Fillmore Thursday. He and his band threw an afternoon dance party that brought down the house Friday.

Wallace’s band introduced him in grand fashion with musical accompaniment, much like the soul legends yore. They dived right into “Electric Love,” the title track of his upcoming album which drops May 8 on ATO Records, and had the audience clapping along with them.

“It’s a day party,” he exclaimed to the crowd after the song. “We came to have a good time, did you come to have a good time? Cause that’s just what we have in mind.”

The band then ripped into “Who Do You Love,” a blistering song with hot electric guitar soloing, persistent organs, driving bass, and a beat that gets the blood pumping.

“It’s Friday, we made it to the end of another work week,” he said. “I really do be feeling like Calgon: take me away! I want to be gone with the wind.”

Which was a perfect segue into his song “Gone With The Wind,” a breezy, relaxed tune that Wallace croons over, rather than belting out in that classic soul vocal phrasing. But in closing the song, Wallace did let loose a bit before a soft and subtle final chorus.

“It took us a long time to get here, but we here,” he said to the crowd. “We’re in the City of Brotherly Love and we haven’t experienced anything but love since we’ve been here. I didn’t mind the wait, since I’m a patient man.”

Can you guess what song was next? It was “Patient Man,” which opened with Wallace’s drummer throwing down a drum solo that was not about speed and frills, but rather about his rhythmic skills. A few genres of drumming seemed to be featured in his standalone moment, with hints of jazz, big band, and even break beats coming out.

“Midnight Valley” was the fifth song of the set, and this tune is a bit moodier and darker than much of Wallace’s fun loving oeuvre. A minor key bluesy guitar solo builds up alongside the drums for nearly all instruments to eventually drop out before ramping back up to a massive finish.

For “You’re The Man,” Wallace peacocked around the stage a bit a his keyboard player hit chord stabs with the guitarist breaking out a wah-wah pedal to create a psych-adjacent vibe. The song’s interlude was held down by the bassist as he grooved along with the dub and reggae style bridge.

Wallace regaled the audience with the story behind his song “Who’s That?” While in high school, he encountered his girlfriend on a date with another man, who happened to be his sister’s boyfriend. So he asked her a rhetorical question: who’s that? The song featured some killer electric piano work, with Wallace telling his bandmate to talk the audience with his fingers, leading into an extended piano solo.

Wallace’s final song was “Let’s Get Together.” Before breaking into the track, Wallace spoke to the crowd again. “This is what it’s all about, having a good time together,” he said. “We are better together. There are so many things that are dividing us, but if we can get together, we can have a good time. Don’t y’all want to have a good time?”

The song starts rather subdued and slowly builds up, with the drummer and keyboardist joining Wallace with vocal harmonies. As they sing about getting together, the music swells into a gospel-style revival that would get anyone up and moving. Wallace commanded the crowd to clap along and get louder and louder.

By this point the venue’s disco ball was in full effect and show goers on the floor were moving along to the beat as the band dished up some gang vocals. A fiery guitar solo brought about the song’s close, which featured a slowly rolled out temp drop before the band came together for their big finish.