DS Show Review: H.R. / Swingin’ Johnny / Ganda (The Observatory Constellation Room – Santa Ana, Ca 7/28/2024)

Paul “H.R.” Hudson played the Observatory in Santa Ana to a small crowd in the Constellation Room, the small offshoot from the main club. The room holds about 250 people, but was sadly only half full. The crowd seemed split in their expectation of what type of set H.R. would be performing. After seeing the opening bands, it was clear, this was going to be a mellow night.

First band on stage was Ganda, a five-piece from Huntington Beach, California. They played dirty reggae in a style similar to Sublime, but their message seemed much more positive. Ganda rides the line of being a jam band, but are smart enough to not let their songs go on too long. The inclusion of a trumpet player gives the band the little extra most of the bands like this don’t have. A couple of the songs feature one of guitar players on keys, but it would be nice to see what they could do with a full-time keyboardist. While Ganda doesn’t do much to forward the genre, they do a great job holding it up. 

Swinging Johnny, led by John Griffin, was up next. Their original songs were a little all over the place. They were dark, surfy, mod, ska, and even a little old country. The band powered through some covers, including the Specials “Concrete Jungle”, Peter Tosh’s song “Stepping Razor”, and Bad Brains “Stay Close To Me”. They could’ve had the set of the night, but technical issues plagued their time on stage. They also seemed a little too focused on how they looked rather than how the songs sounded. It’s unclear if it was an off night for the band, but it’s been a minute since I’ve seen a band start a song then stop thirty seconds in to see how much time they had left in the set.  

It’s good to see H.R. touring after not being able because of health reasons. His participation with Bad Brains has been on and off throughout the years. In that time away from the band his solo material has mostly focused on reggae. This set highlights those songs. Gone is the lead singer once described as “James Brown gone berserk,” who had spent years doing back flips and dives off stages. It’s not to say this wasn’t good. It was a career-spanning set with songs from his solo albums released thru SST and the music he’s released in the last few years. We did get some Bad Brains as “I + I Survive” and “I Luv I Jah,” but it was clear most of the people were expecting a much more intense set. 

His backing band was pretty solid. H.R.’s vocals sound good after years of screaming. The frantic impatience that was once present has been replaced with a calm demeanor. He was very thankful to perform and said so multiple times. Those looking for the old H.R. may be disappointed, but if you like Bad Brains reggae songs, give the show a chance.