LIVE: Summer Spirit Festival 2015

 photos: Victoria Ford/Sneakshot Photography

For soul music lovers, the place to be this past Saturday was at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. For the 10th Annual Summer Spirit Festival, presented by CD Enterprises. The weather was perfect. Sunny and in the low 80’s. This year’s lineup featured (in order of appearance): PhonyPpl, Avery*Sunshine, Estelle, Junkyard Band, Tony Toni Tone, Floetry, Anthony Hamilton and Erykah Badu.
The music started promptly at 3pm and ran until approximately 11:05.
The first band to hit the stage was PhonyPpl, an R&B/funk band from Brooklyn. They were quite energetic and had a great sound.
Next up singer-songwriter was Avery*Sunshine. She started her set with “I Got Sunshine”, then performed a rousing gospel number – “Safe In His Arms” and closed her brief set with her first #1 single, “Call My Name.”  The women in the crowd screamed their approval. Avery’s performance was one of the musical highlights of the day. She thanked the crowd for their applause, and then she claimed that her goal was to be one of Anthony Hamilton’s backup singers!
After a brief pause, London’s Estelle attempted to get the crowd rocking on their feet for set, but to not much success. Apparently the crowd just wanted to listen instead of dance. She was very talkative, and performed songs such as: “Do My Thing,” “Come Over,” “Break My Heart,” “Thank You” and her biggest hit “American Boy.” She finished her set with “Something Good” which was preceded by a bit of the Crystal Waters house hit “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless).”
D.C.’s own Junkyard Band swooped in and took over the stage for a non-stop barrage of hits and go-go jam, including “The Word,” “Loose Booty” and their most popular hit, “Sardines.”  Their 35 minute set had EVERYONE up on their feet and dancing. It went by waaaay too fast.
One of the most popular groups from the 90’s, Tony Toni Tone', returned to the stage after many years. However, at times they seemed like a cover band, as the only original member of the group is DWayne Wiggins. Rafael Saadiq’s vocals were clearly missed. They performed for just over 30 minutes, and played “Little Walter,” The Blues,” “It Never Rains In Southern California,” “Feels Good,” “Whatever You Want,” “Anniversary,” and “Let’s Get Down.”
It has been a whole decade since a new album from British soul duo Floetry, but you wouldn’t know it by the crowd response, and most people singing along to every word. Standing on opposite ends of the stage for their performance, they sang songs such as “If I Was A Bird,” Floetic,” Sunshine,” “Butterflies,” “Getting Late,” and “Say Yes.”
Anthony Hamilton was next, with everyone on stage decked out in white from head to toe except for a flowered vest worn by Mr. Hamilton. His trio of backup singers almost stole the show with their harmonizing and solo spotlights. What an amazing sound coming from the stage with the full band and everyone sounding absolutely perfect. Songs played included the crowd favorites "Cool," "Woo," and "Comin' From Where I'm From," "Can't Let Go," "Charlene," and "Pray For Me."
Somewhere along the way, the show was delayed, and everything seemed to be pushed back by over 30 minutes. By the time headliner Erykah Badu got on stage, it was just after 10:pm, and she had barely an hour to perform before the strict curfew time of 11:00pm. It became apparent that most in the crowd were there to see Queen Erykah, and she and her top-notch band did not disappoint. Cranking out the following songs until the houselights came up: “20 Feet Tall,” (a very short) “Out My Mind, Just In Time,” “On & On,” “Love Of My Life,” “Me,” “Cleva,” “Time’s A Wastin’,” “I Want You,” “Danger,” Next Lifetime.”