Back Beat Seattle | Show Review & Photos (Plus Videos): Thievery Corporation & Dessa

Thievery Corporation & Dessa @ the Showbox – 12/5/21
Show Review & Photos (Plus Videos) by Lisa Hagen Glynn

Thievery Corporation – photo by Lisa Hagen Glynn

Thievery Corporation returned to Seattle for two nights at the Showbox Market, after a couple of pandemic years away. (See a review of their 2018 show in Back Beat Seattle).

Founded in 1995, Thievery Corporation offered a precise and high-quality show, with an endearing genuineness and a felt sense of joy in performing together. The band included founding member Rob Garza, guitarist/sitarist Rob Myers, percussionist Frank Orrall, drummer Jeff Franca, and newly joined bassist Dan Africano—it was just his third show, replacing mainstay Ashish Vyas.

Their blazing 25-tune set included an instrumental opening segment, followed by an excellent cast of rotating vocalists (Puma Ptah, Loulou Ghelichkhani, Natalia Clavier, Racquel Jones, Mr. Lif, and Frank Orrall), and an extended curtain call. Although Seattle crowds can require some coaxing, Thievery had this one waving and jumping.

Folks showed up early for opening singer–songwriter –rapper Dessa, who was joined by a keyboardist and harpist. She showed wit at the mic, sipped her drinks with a licorice straw, and walked the back bar while fans illuminated her with cellphones and sang along.

Thievery Corporation is back on the road in March 2022 for their Outernational Tour V.2.