It was a classy and boisterous night at ‘Love Is the Drug’, the celebration for the release of Dr. Gabrielle Francis’ book The Rockstar Remedy. Francis recruited old friends of hers, The Dap-Kings, who brought along a little woman known as Sharon Jones to celebrate. And it all happened at the very class Martha Washington Hotel in New York on Wednesday, February 11th.
A line of classy, upscale folks wrapped around the Martha Washington lobby, orchestrated by security – word is that the space upstairs got so packed that they had to turn people away. Dr. Francis’ book is about how one can party and still stay healthy, and the event tried to showcase that. There were numerous hors d’oeuvres that managed to be tasty and good for you (at least we were told they were good for you…) – probably best were the lamb balls, at just the right size that you could eat one whole and yet didn’t feel short-changed by the portion (always a problem with hors d’oeuvres). And there were some special ‘Free Spirit’ cocktails – the ‘free’ being gluten-free.
[Note: But that ‘free’ didn’t mean price-free, at least not at the bar, but servers came round with free drinks. The free drinks did dip once the music started, and the prices at the bar weren’t exactly cheap – more a complaint from your cheap-skate correspondent than the not-broke crowd…]
The likes of Julian Lennon, Caitlin Moe, Liberty Devitto, and Dave Ellefson (Megadeth) were on hand for the celebration, but the real partiers were Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. Francis introduced the band, remarking that she had worked with The Dap-Kings back when the group thought that In & Out Burger was classy because it had hand-cut fries – but Daptone is a pricy ticket now. Like most Dap-King shows, the group opened on their own, with bassist Bosco Mann & drummer Homer Steinwess setting the beat & guitarist Binky Griptite setting the tone, but Griptite also introduced the pseudo-opener, Daptone Records’ own Saun & Starr. The duo did a few of their own songs before sliding over to back-up vocals as Ms. Sharon Jones took the stage. Jones recently survived her own illness, as Francis remarked, but was in high spirits at Martha Washington. It was especially special to see the group play in such an intimate space – and it wasn’t some dingy bar rented out for the evening, nor was it just a handful of songs and then done like at many a private event; this was the full Daptone experience, including Jones inviting a fan on stage at one point (at another point, she invited on their merch lady, purely because she’s Scottish – not Irish, as the merch lady immediately corrected Jones – and they wanted to hear her brogue).
The whole event began & ended early, because this wasn’t some DIY punk show and the crowd had well-paying jobs to get to in the morning. And there was a gift bag for all kinds of wellness treatments (including yoga & pilates), plus photo sessions for once those treatments have started showing their positive effects. Party + Health = The Rockstar Remedy.
