in the Mix

Lenny Kravitz performing at the Bank of America Pavilion, Saturday, August 25. (Photo: Colette Greenstein)

Music for the Soul

It was all about the music on the Liberation Tour at the Bank of America Pavilion with Mary J. Blige, D’Angelo and Melanie Fiona. What an incredible line-up!  I caught the tail-end of Melanie’s set and the girl has got some pipes.

Next up, was D’Angelo, who I was so excited to see.  I had never seen him in concert before and I can enthusiastically say that he was worth the wait. His voice was silky smooth, the music was pure funk and RandB, and you could just feel his energy flowing through the crowd.

Everyone was up and bobbing their heads and dancing during his set. He got the audience hyped with renditions of “Lad” and “Brown Sugar” to even a couple of his new songs. It was just unreal.

Mary J. Blige put on a phenomenal show. She had a great back-up band and singers, and no dancers, but she didn’t need them. She hit the stage in a Valentino red short jumpsuit with thigh-high boots and proceeded to rock the crowd with a string of hits from “Real Love” to “Family Affair.”

I had an absolute ball and danced all night long.

Lenny Kravitz

A pair of tickets came my way to see an exclusive concert with Lenny Kravitz at Bank of America Pavilion. Two fabulous concerts in one week? Of course I said yes. He was in town to perform as part of Microsoft’s celebration of its brand new store at the Prudential Center. I’ve seen Lenny once before at a private sound check and it was good, but he was a bit funky a few years ago, (as in attitude). But it was all love on this night.

He was awesome! He ran into the crowd, took photos and shook hands. He performed all of his hits from “Mama Said,” “Fly Away” and “American Woman” to “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” “Mr. Cab Driver” and “Let Love Rule.”

An hour and a half and one encore later he closed with his new song “Black and White America.” It was all love and all Lenny!

Food for the soul

I’ve been craving comfort food and so as I continue on my culinary exploits, I find myself wanting to share three more restaurants with you.

First is Canary Square. This time, I tried the pulled pork taco for dinner. I’m not a huge taco fan but it was really tasty and filling. The corn tortilla is filled with huge chunks of shredded pork, topped with cotija cheese, roasted salsa, and pickled red onion that adds the right amount of spice to the taco. You won’t regret it!

Next up is Salvatore’s in the theater district, right on Washington Street. I tried the eggplant parmesan for lunch. It’s really affordable and worth the effort to leave the office for an hour.

The dish is made of lightly fried layered eggplant with marinara sauce, basil and fresh mozzarella, served over housemade rigatoni. It’s so good and filling, yet you don’t feel like you’re going to roll out of the restaurant.

There’s a huge bar with flat screen TVs and an array of high-top tables for dining or for cocktails.

While you’re in the theater district, stop by Teatro for their rigatoni with classic ragu bolognese. It’s my absolute favorite dish from them and is always consistent, tasty and extremely satisfying.

Coming Up

The “Ladies of Redbull Soundstage!” featuring Shea Rose at Brighton Music Hall on Saturday, September 8 at 9 p.m.

The Ford Forum at Suffolk University presents “Radio Silence” with Charles Laquidara, Billy Costa, Julie Kramer, and Henry Santoro on  Thursday, September 13 at the C. Walsh Theatre at Suffolk University from 6:30 p.m.- 8 p.m. Admission is free and open to all.

The Berklee Performance Center presents “Rockapella:  Motown and More” on Friday, September 14 at 8 p.m. The show pays tribute to the music of Motown with covers of hit songs from The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and many more.

One of my favorite comics, D.L. Hughley, returns to The Wilbur Theater on Saturday, September 15 at 7 p.m.

On Saturday, September 15, The Citi Performing Arts Center presents Russell Brand live at 8 p.m.

The Paradise presents Stephen Marley on Sunday, September 17 at 7 p.m. It’s an 18-plus show.

If you would like me to cover or write about your event, email me at inthemixwithcolette@gmail.com.