It's been several years since I had the pleasure of seeing Luciano perform live, and this past weekend's show at Zanadu Studios in Auburn, WA was a perfect reintroduction to his dynamic stage show. As always, he was captivating. His voice sounds just as good as it did when I first saw him live in the early 2000s, and Seattle's own Rootsonic Band did an amazing job of backing him.

I had never seen a show at Zanadu Studios before Saturday night, and I was admittedly a tad skeptical about the venue being able to handle an artist of Luciano's caliber. I was dead wrong. While it was a very different setting (and crowd) than the typical Seattle reggae concert, the more club-like atmosphere ultimately lent itself perfectly to Luciano's stage show.

From the first song to the last, Luciano brought his incredible voice and unwavering energy. He largely performed the hits, singing each to perfection, but in the 90 minutes he was on stage, he also sang some of the less-popular but still socially relevant songs he's so good at. While the crowd was largely of African descent, he definitely spent time focused on singing more of his African-themed songs—and the folks in attendance absolutely loved it. In fact, I was surprised by the fact that nearly everyone there knew practically all the words to every song. It made for a great energy exchange between Luciano and the audience.

Then there's the Rootsonic Band. I've always marveled at how a local band tasked with backing an international artist is able to not only learn 90 minutes' worth of songs, but also perform them at a level required by such a singer. Rootsonic understood the assignment and sounded fantastic, even adapting to Luciano's on-the-spot feedback in the middle of one song. Together, singer and band melded seamlessly into a unit of sonic joy.

Hopefully, Luciano will be back in the Seattle area sometime soon. If he's coming to your town, I highly recommend catching his show—he will not disappoint. He is as good as he's ever been and still an inspiration. Big ups to Luciano and Rootsonic Band both! You can watch video footage from the show below.