Party: Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires || Soul'd Out Music Festival

Party: Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires || Soul'd Out Music Festival

Soul'd Out & Double Tee Present

Charles Bradly & His Extraordinaires
w/ special guests BADBADNOTGOOD

April 14th
Roseland Theater
8pm, 21+

If you’re looking for a story that best summarizes the last year in the life of Charles Bradley, you'd be hard pressed to find a better one than the night he and his band showed up in Utopia, Texas to play an outdoor show in the middle of a thunderstorm. "It was just raining, raining, raining," Bradley recalls. "I walked out onstage, and there were about 800 people there – maybe more – all of them just standing out there in the rain and the mud." The band settled in and fought their hardest against the elements, but – for a moment, anyway – it seemed that nature was too much for even the mighty Charles Bradley. About halfway through the show, the power went out, leaving both the band and the drenched fans in total darkness.

At any other show, that would be understood as the meteorological signal for "Quittin' Time," but if there's one thing the last year of tireless touring before enrapt audiences has proven, it's that Charles Bradley does not put on typical shows. "I could hear them screaming, 'Charles Bradley! Charles Bradley we love you,'" Bradley smiles. "And so when the lights came back on, I said, 'If all of you can stand out there in the rain and get soaking wet because you want to see me perform – to see me do something that I love to do – then you know what? I'm gonna get wet, too.'" And with that, Bradley jumped off the stage and into the crowd. "They went completely crazy!" he laughs. "We were laughing. We were hugging. We were getting muddy. It was just love."


But if the album has a summary statement, it's "Through the Storm." Over a deep gospel groove, Bradley expresses his gratitude – to his fans, his friends and to God – for their support, their dedication and their devotion. "When the world gives you love," he sings, "It frees your soul." This is the new message of Charles Bradley, the Bradley who has emerged from the heartache stronger and more confident, overflowing with love to share. This is Charles Bradley, victim of love -- gratefully returning the joy that has been given to him.

"It's all about what you give." Bradley says, leaning hard into that last word. "I don’t care how great a singer you are. I don't care how much talent you have. If you give, and if the people feel what you're giving, you're blessed."

"Charles is deeper than me and you put together," Brenneck says, "His message is, 'I've lived through this. I know what you're going through. And if I can make it, you can, too.' He gets offstage every night thinking he didn't give enough. I say, 'Charles, if you gave any more, you'd have a heart attack.'"

"All I've been trying to show the world is the love I have to give," says Bradley. "I hope that when you look at me, you're gonna see a person who walks this planet in a way that, when the Lord calls him home, He says, 'Well done, servant.' If God can see that I've loved all as He's loved us – that's all I can do. And that’s what I fight to do."

Invited: Jessica Westerhof, Nathan Keech, Rebecca French, Andrew Jacob, Robby Luigi Bruce, Steph Szabo, Matthew Fisher, Danielle Bowman, Drew Bandy, Mariel Andrade, Robby Holmes, Elizabeth Anne Sherwin, Andrew Smith, Karmen Scott-Geller, Rebecca Dittmar, Jennifer Eve Devine, John Brumtis, Melinda Conant, Chris Drossos, Sean Kennedy, Leigh Scott- Brown, Erik Killops, Liza Lou, Liberty Charapata, Patrick Leonard, Lindsay Pearson, Robyn Purkapile, David Geller, Page Bonin, Tanya Sparkles, Patrick Carney, Kristen Meyer, Dana Hammonds, Rebecca Paterson, Sara Orman, Brady Bear, Jonathan Fredette, Gina Tynan, Menekşe O'Connor, Lauren Bruce, Nicole de Leeuw, Randy Dittmar, Maria Woolman, Rachel Johnson, Jessica Peter, Flossie Mcshane, Ali Hamid, Iris Crowner, Jahnathan Velasquez, Shellia Orman, Zachary Harris, Ben Shearer, Tony Thompson, Sarah Rudarmel, Palani Bearghost, Brett Brandenburg, Alexandra Abella Kirchhoefer, Blues John, Sara Averbeck show more »