Lee Way

The last few times 60s soul singer Lee Fields came through Toronto, he played at bigger venues like The Great Hall and Opera House. Tuesday night, he showcased his new album at the historic but smaller Horseshoe Tavern. But the packed venue was perfect for his brand of sweaty love songs.

The opener was an instrumental band from Brooklyn called Ikebe Shakedown. Unsurprisingly, most of them were also Fields' backing band The Expressions. They played tight funk on songs titled The Offering and No Answer. Though they sometimes slowed down into sexier grooves, it was mostly music to dance to.

Fields is a consummate performer. Tonight, he came onstage dressed in a glowing silver men's suit. Though the biggest cheers were for older material, there were just a handful to start: opening number My World and swaggering I Still Got It. The bulk of his set were new songs. With such a veteran, it was easy to sell them live though most were not particularly memorable. But there were 2 standouts: the almost gospel Talk To Somebody and the snakey Don't Walk. The crowd-pleasing Ladies kept the shout-outs and screams going. Fields ended his set to loud approval with Money Is King and Faithful Man. Both of which covered its own kind of sinfulness. Fields commanded the stage with a voice that crooned, soared, screamed, and pleaded. He was animated but saved some James Brown-esque moves as punctuation for the big moments. It was all very slick, this man has been doing this a long time, but still thrilling.