Live music review: Sweet Spirit returned to Hotel Vegas Saturday
Two weeks to the day Sweet Spirit founding members Sabrina Ellis and Andrew Cashen returned to Hotel Vegas‘ famed backyard with A Giant Dog, the writing duo returned Saturday with Sweet Spirit to do it all over again, but with glam-rock style in spades. The evening also marked the birthday of Ellis who turned in a typically memorable performance, wasting no time in leading off with banger, “The Power.” The song is the group’s 2017 hit off the album, St. Mojo.
The good times continued on with a slate of songs as long as a grocery list for a family of 12. In all, Sweet Spirit played a 21-song set list with three encores as the Hotel Vegas faithful belted out lyrics along with Ellis with the kind of lust fans reserve for sweaty backyard parties with their favorite acts.
Make no mistake, A Giant Dog is a much beloved project of Ellis and Cashen’s musical partnership but Sweet Spirit is the act that holds a particular place in the hearts of fans and members alike. At least this fan thinks so. Spoon’s Britt Daniel is famously a supporter, taking the group on the road with Spoon a few years ago. The lanky blonde-haired singer was once again at Hotel Vegas Saturday to support his homies just like two weeks ago when AGD played.
Sweet Spirit guitarist Josh Merry confided with us, saying after Daniel stopped to chat with Merry, “I know he has a lot of well-known friends (as does Merry), but we both love Prince and I love that Britt called me when his (Prince’s) posthumous record dropped recently.”
We love that Daniel consistently backs whatever Ellis and Cashen are doing on stage. We really dug Saturday’s birthday performance by Ellis who was on fire from the get go. After leading off with their 2017 hit, “The Power” the band shifted to newer material off their latest record, Trinidad before moving to the early part of their catalog for crowd-pleaser, “If You Wanna.” The banging drum and bass lines in this tune beg for fans to cut loose, which of course, they obliged with gusto. Ellis also smoked an entire joint during the set to mark the occasion, grabbed the hands of as many fans as they could close to the stage, and left every last ounce of energy on the performance floor Saturday.
If you wanna
We could have a place in Mexico
Smoke marijuana
Never tell a single soul where we go
–Sweet Spirit
After eighteen incredible songs, the band took a break before retaking the stage for a three-song encore. During the brief hiatus, someone brought a cake on stage for Ellis who was busy making a costume change. Once Ellis finally returned, birthday the cake was launched across the crowd to “surf” it as if the wild-eyed singer had just launched a decadent ship across the sea of fans. It wasn’t long before icing and cake were flung back onto the stage. By that time the band had launched into the next tune, “Don’t Take Me Down,” before deep cut from Cokomo, “Stop Trippin.” Sweet Spirit closed out the night with new(ish) disco track, “Llorando,” sending the faithful off on yet another seminal performance.
Ellis looked completely spent upon leaving the stage for the night, soaked with sweat, exhaustion and elation. Fans quickly surrounded them, thanking the gifted singer for their performance. Some left the them small gifts, took photos with Ellis or simply gushed about how great the show was. Despite the tired look on Ellis’ face, they were there for every last second of the accolades earned.
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