Leon Bridges live at Austin City Limits

06 September 2018, 09:21 Photography by Andy Pareti

(Photos)

(Leon Bridges)

On Sunday, young soul singer Leon Bridges took the stage for the third of three consecutive shows in the Austin, TX area - the longest stop on his 29-date tour. Bridges may hail from 190 miles north in Fort Worth, but Austin has more-or-less adopted him as a local. The reasons for this are plenty - for one, Austinites love their locally-produced retro callbacks, whether it’s the blues of Gary Clark Jr. or the psychedelia of the Black Angels. For another, Bridges recently absorbed two key members of the Austin-based White Denim in Josh Block and Austin Jenkins, into his band. But perhaps the biggest reason people flocked to his shows over this Labor Day weekend is the same reason Bridges has caught fire far beyond the heart of Texas: his music is fun yet unflinchingly earnest, and he performs it with a passion that charges through his thin frame on stage. Bridges marched his band through a 19-song set on Sunday, stopping seldom to address the crowd. He paced the stage in a curious stance, his left hand held behind his back while he shuffled back and forth, occasionally breaking into flourishes of dance. These flourishes usually accompanied the memorable peaks in his set, as if he knew intuitively when his audience would ascend to higher levels of response. The best examples of this were on the whimsical, Van Morrison-like “Beyond” and the raucous, 50’s swing of “Flowers”. Bridges encored with “River”, an extraordinary duet with bandmate Brittni Jessie that harkens back to the golden age of gospel. It’s funny - lots of modern bands with roots in classic rock, R&B or blues try to mask the nostalgia with a layer of more modern sounds (think Foxygen or The Lemon Twigs). But when it comes to soul singers like Bridges, it seems the more honest and reverential it gets, the better. And it gets no more honest - and beautiful - then with “River”. Coming mere weeks after the passing of Aretha Franklin, I almost expected Bridges to include a tribute - or at least an acknowledgement - to the Queen of Soul. While there was none, it may have been for the best. In the end, what better way to honor one of the greats than by driving the institution of soul into the 21st century with great, original songs? Bridges did his foremothers and fathers proud on Sunday, acting as the pumping heart of a nervous system that has seen and felt much in the span of many decades. If he carries that beating heart and humble smile with him through the rest of this tour, Leon Bridges may find many more cities lining up to adopt him.