There is nothing ironic about Manchuka. They don't wear skinny jeans, not a synthesizer in sight, and no one even thinks about smashing a guitar. Just across from Ted Herbert's Music Mart on Elm Street in Manchester is The Shaskeen pub, and every Tuesday night for three years this super-funky and incredibly tight group has entertained crowds there.
Manchuka is a fairly large collective, by local band standards, with a killer horn section and a vast amount of mature talent. The band has a revolving door of members and frequently welcomes friends to the stage.
The group is lead by tenor player Domenique DiNardo, who fondly remembers a time when a young group called Tower of Power was starting its journey to the forefront of the modern funk and soul scene out on the West Coast.
"I lived in California in the 1970s, and when I got this gig at a club called On Broadway in Oakland, Tower of Power was playing the same club. When they came off the road after a couple months, they would play on off nights. It was a big party. All the guys in Tower of Power would come in and drink — it was the '70s after all — and the trumpet player, conga players and trombone player would sit in with us almost every night," DiNardo said.
That was several decades ago, and ever since those days DiNardo has wanted to craft a band with the raw power of Tower.
"It took a few years to get the right band together," he said, through a grin that can only come from true love of music. Manchuka, the most recent incarnation of these past decades of devotion, has been playing together for five years and unlike many of the other competing cover acts in the Manchester area, its rhythm section brings the funk while the brass burns bright.
We're all suckers for a song we recognize, and if you love funk or soul, you'll get that in spades.
Singing duties are primarily taken by ex-Air Force Band member Bruce Smith, who can be smooth but has no problem conveying that he has studied James Brown's soulful yell, and by Reid Trevaskis, whose versatile voice and range allow the band to cover a wide array of tunes with aplomb.
They have no problem giving the crowd some Chicago or Earth, Wind, and Fire or Rick James but most surprisingly was hearing them cover Muse's popular song "Uprising" during a recent set.
This track was out of left field and, though I have no qualms saying that they could very effectively cover other more modern music, don't expect any Lady Gaga in their set list.
Speaking of the legendary Tower of Power, the group is going to be playing the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom on July 29 on its usual swing through New Hampshire, and Manchuka really wants to return old favors and open for them.
Last year, members of Manchuka musicians went to see Tower of Power's Seacoast show and were shocked to find that a solo acoustic act opened for the heavy-hitting group. "Why not put the same type of material before the show?," trumpet player Matt Rivero said.
This year the ballroom plans to use a radio DJ to warm up the crowd, which Manchuka feels is a great travesty and has its sights set on the opening slot. The band has started an online petition that they hope will get them enough support to approach the production company that manages Tower of Power.
"In the old days, when Tower of Power would come to the Casino Ballroom, the Boston Horns used to open for them, and since they're not around, we're hoping to replace them," DiNardo said.
The ballroom's marketing director, Andrew Herrick, said while admirable, the petition isn't the usual way to get on a bill. "The band is bringing their own opening act," Herrick said.
"They typically bring a solo act or a DJ due to the sheer size of (their own) band."
For more information on the band, visit Manchuka.com. To sign the group's petition, visit www.OpenforToP.com.
They have no problem giving the crowd some Chicago or Earth, Wind, and Fire or Rick James but most surprisingly was hearing them cover Muse's popular song "Uprising" during a recent set.
