Lineup
Venue
In 2023, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe celebrate their 25th anniversary as a band.
KDTU has electrified audiences around the world from the fields of Naeba in Japan at the infamous Fuji Rock Festival to the hallowed stage of Madison Square Garden where they previously joined the Dave Matthews Band and The Godfather of Soul, James Brown. From performing as Sexual Chocolate (Karl was in the original band in the movie Coming To America and its sequel) at the Outside Lands Music festival in San Francisco, to being the first late night act at the inaugural Bonnaroo festival, KDTU have been a dominating force in music for the past 25 years.
All-night, sold-out concerts during Jazzfest in New Orleans have featured sit ins by everyone from Lenny Kravitz & Steve Winwood (with whom Karl has recorded and toured) to avant garde luminaries Marc Ribot & Boyfriend. Chuck Leavell and Bernard Fowler (Karl's bandmates in The Rolling Stones where Karl replaced the great Bobby Keys as saxophonist in 2014) have joined onstage and on record, as have Lukas Nelson, John Oates, Michael Franti, Warren Haynes, Ivan Neville, Anders Osborne, Big Daddy Kane, Roy Hargrove, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Joshua Redman, Marcus King, and Bernie Worrell, among others.
Touring the country with the Allman Brothers, My Morning Jacket, D'Angelo, The Roots, Public Enemy, Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead, Parliament Funkadelic, Slightly Stoopid, Widespread Panic, very few concert goers have been untouched by the Tiny Universe live. In addition to KDTU, Karl Denson aka "Diesel" is a founding member of the seminal groove act The Greyboy Allstars.
Encore
Karl Denson is always a great time. I hope that his age I am half as energetic and amazing on stage as he is. The venue has a great sound and is a good size.
The show was originally billed as Karl Denson's Tiny Universe with Jackie Greene. Later, Nigel Hall was added to the bill. Looking forward to the show was an understatement. Having seen Karl Denson, Jackie Greene and Nigel Hall on many occasions SEPERATELY, this would be the first time all together in the same room. The show started a little over 45 minutes late. No reason for the delay was given when Karl took the stage with Tiny Universe, his most popular project. After a forty-five minute set, Karl announced they were taking a break and coming back with Nigel Hall (from Lettuce). Karl & Tiny Universe came back with Nigel Hall and they did a little over forty-five minute set including a variety of Stevie Wonder songs which was also on the bill as a tribute. After one of the songs, Karl said, Thank you very much, good night. The GA Floor which was at about 3/4th capacity, stood in amazement that he said "Good night". There was no mention of Jackie Greene and why he wasn't there. People didn't leave for a while. The merchandise lady, who was with the band, said she didn't know what happened. I remembered a box office person before the show saying, Jackie Greene was opening the show. I was really looking forward to seeing Jackie, and there were a lot of people that were there JUST to see Jackie, period. I have not been contacted. The Sound is an excellent venue and a great place for a show, I look forward to going there again.
Carl Denson never disappoints. Watching the intimacy and professionalism of his band onstage is a true delight. Their sound uplifts my spirit and touches my soul.
If I had know when I bought the ticket that a DJ was going to open the show I wouldn't have bought it. Why a DJ?
Karl Denson was great as was Chuck Levell and the rest of Karl's band. So many people there who only know these 2 from the Rolling Stones. They need to listen to their solo stuff especially Sea Level if the like Chuck. Funkzilla was terrible. They were not playing funk. It was top 40 R&B from the 70's and 80's.
KDTU brings the most creative, danceable and complex funky music available. The arrangements are intricate and the beats sublime. Add in Robert Randolph’s slide guitar and this was a night of music and fun that I will never forget.
Shouldn’t have been billed as a Beastie Boys tribute show. KDTU played at least half their set on their own music. All well and good, if all the advertising hadn’t solely made it seem like the focus would be recreating Beastie Boys music
After seeing Karl D live for 15 years, i had high expectations and was dissapointed not by his band but of the execution. Slightly Stoopid yelled raps on stage and their voiced drowned out the instramentals. They did a decent job impersonating AdRock, Mike D, MCA but the sound engineers butchered the sound. Also expected more intramentals with Slightly Stoopid playing instruments vs running around screeming lyrics. Could have been great but executed poorly. Karl- come back and play a smaller venue, its more your vibe. XO
DJ Z-Trips set was amazing and a “1 of A KIND”. Karl and the Tiny Universe super fun soulful and entered some deep funky grooves. All the musicians collaborated such a great tribute.
The set by DJ ZTrip blew us away with nostalgia, complexity and variety. From Hip Hop to Funk and even a dose of Metallica. He is a true crowd pleasing vinyl savant. We’d seen Karl D in Tokyo at the Blue note and a few times since and he’s even elevated his game. Loved the classics and the new release from the New Orleans sessions but when they started playing the Beastie Boys instrumentals I was in heaven. The brass, the keys the guitar and bad were phenomenal as expected but the dude on percussion was outstanding. Just as we thought it couldn’t get better, he introduced the Beastie Boys redux and they were on point with the tonal variation and did the originals justice! They were hilarious and provided an amazing mood to go along with my MDRN MOOD. Oh… and the Venue. Killer Venue! We were on the rail up on the balcony, so our experience was phenomenal. May have been different if we were standing shoulder to shoulder on the floor but no matter where you are in that place The Sound is sure to be a treat to the ears. The acoustics seemed perfect. Great show at a great price. Honored to be in Karl Densons Tiny Universe especially listening to him jam the timeless B Boys!
