Last night's Raphael Saadiq show was pretty amazing, truth be told. His band sounded great, covering hits by The Fifth Dimension, as well as spanning most of Saadiq's career. The crowd loved every second of it. It really was the type of show that people who weren't there should have made excuses to themselves for missing the show that was captivating nearly every second Saadiq was on stage.

Fortunately, the excellent photographer Jason Tang was on hand to capture the show with his SLR. Below are a few of my favorite photos of Saadiq and opener Anjulie:

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In the days and weeks after Bumbershoot, the question of "who was the best act you saw [during the three day festival over Labor Day weekend]?" came up often and my answer was always Raphael Saadiq. The soul singer's two sets I saw (one being in the KEXP music lounge) were incredible to watch. He was backed by a tight (and sharply dressed) band playing some of the most irresistable funk and soul you're likely to here. He sounded sincere both when singing in lust like during "Let's Take a Walk" and paying tribute to victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

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{Anjulie plays at Showbox Sodo on Monday, November 16 with Raphael Saadiq and Melanie Fiona.}

Fans of pop music know this: the first time you hear a great and catchy song, one that has a big hook, it will grab you immediately and stick and you’ll want to hear it again and again. When you hear a song like that, you’ll be thanking whoever invented the repeat buttons on CD players or iPods. Such was the case the first time I heard a song called “Boom”.

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