Chuck Prophet Wakes the Dead & thrills the livin’ at The Chapel

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER

Bay Area singer-songwriter Chuck Prophet provided his dedicated hometown followers a joyous year end treat, performing a sold out show at the tightly packed Chapel in San Francisco Saturday night.

Prophet, 61, a San Gabriel Valley native who relocated to Northern California in the early 80’s, made a sobering announcement a couple years ago when he reported that he had been diagnosed with stage four lymphoma and was undergoing treatment.

©DANIEL GLUSKOTER

Healthy again, Prophet recently released Wake The Dead, his 14th studio album and a follow-up to 2020’s highly acclaimed The Land That Time Forgot. The album was recorded with cumbia group ¿Qiensave? during sessions with the band in their base of Salinas during his lymphoma recovery.

Seizing on his recently developed passion for latin music, ¿Qiensave? was a perfect match for Prophet seeing how they specialized in Cumbia styled music, a lively genre conceived in Colombia with additional roots throughout South America.

Any questions in the audience prior to the show about what type of set list to expect considering Prophet’s indulgence with the Cumbian music were quickly answered with opener “Avientense Todos” by Los Locos Del Ritmo setting the stage for a 95 minute set.

©DANIEL GLUSKOTER

With a five man backing band featuring Prophet’s road band The Mission Express including Mario Cortez of ¿Qiensave? on Keyboards, Güira & Vox, the concert provided a delectable mixture of Cumbia, Rock ‘N’ Roll and soul with a psychedelic light show.

Featuring ten of the 11 tracks from the lively new album – highlighted by the hypnotic title track, Prophet still managed to perform 19 songs in the party like atmosphere. Often providing comparisons to Ray Davies of the Kinks with his vocals and storytelling, the beauty of Wake The Dead was put on full display along with great cuts like “Jesus Was a Social Drinker,” Killing Machine, the delightfully zydeco flavored ” Sugar Into Water,” Ford Econoline” and the deeply personal “It’s a Good Day to Be Alive” which was performed as a duet with his wife and bandmate, Stephanie Finch, before calling it a year with a rousing “Wooly Bully.”

©DANIEL GLUSKOTER

Thankfully, nearly three years after experiencing surgery and chemo, Prophet has been given a clean bill of health and has booked an upcoming slate of performances that includes a non-stop stretch of 15 consecutive gigs in the United Kingdom to conclude a schedule of 37 shows in 50 days that begins with shows across the USA.

Prophet and company won’t be gone from the Bay Area for long, returning to The Chapel for a Valentine’s Day performance on February 14th before playing Hopmonk Tavern in Novato the following day.

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