Thee Sacred Souls live at Bristol’s Prospect Building
Words & Photos: Images by Ellis
★★★★★
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There was no mistaking the intent at The Prospect Building. This was a night built for deep devotion to soul. With the Bristol date sold out and Thee Sacred Souls taking over the huge Main Room, the former industrial space was transformed into something more sultry and intimate than its scale might suggest.
Photo: Images by Ellis
Bristol Northern Soul Club set the tone perfectly, filling the early evening with the kind of rare grooves and floor-friendly soul that made the room feel lived-in before a live instrument had even been struck. It was less background music than a pre-show education: a reminder that the lineage Thee Sacred Souls draw from is still very much a living, spinning, shuffling culture.
Cinnamon Gum then proved an inspired support choice. Hailing from Poland, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and producer Maciej Milewski looked and sounded the part. The band brought their blend of 70s funk textures, falsetto sweetness and playful showmanship, with ‘Sweet Honey’ and new single ‘Mary Liz’ standing out. By the time they closed with Simsalabim, they seemed to have won over plenty of new converts.
Thee Sacred Souls arrived to a crowd already primed, and openers ‘Love Comes Easy’ and ‘Lucid Girl’ were a silky statement of intent. Josh Lane’s voice is the obvious focal point – light and seemingly effortless, but this was not a one-man show. The San Diego trio comprises Lane, Sal Samano and Alejandro Garcia, but the expanded 10-piece band included a horn section and two backing singers, creating a rich sound that set a foundation for his vocal acrobatics.
Lane connected with the audience from the start. Working the front row from the pit early on, he later jumped into the crowd, moving through the packed room during ‘Running Away’, even heading out to the outdoor seats where some had escaped the heat, singing a few lines directly to them. It underlined the band’s greatest strength: for all the polish and vintage soul craft, Thee Sacred Souls never feel aloof.
‘Waiting On The Right Time’, then lifted the tempo just enough to keep the floor moving, before the main set closed with ‘Future Lover’. The encore brought them back with the upbeat ‘Live For You’, its easy groove giving the room one final lift, before they closed with the song many had been waiting for: ‘Can I Call You Rose?’
By then, The Prospect Building felt less like a warehouse and more like a slow-dance soul club, with Thee Sacred Souls leaving Bristol with hips loosened and proof that nostalgia, when carried with this much sincerity, can still feel present.