When a band as ridiculously cool and talented as Alabama Shakes comes to town for a gig, regardless of the ticket price, venue or the busyness of my schedule, I can’t help but jump at the chance to get my hands on a ticket. Thinking back now though, perhaps I should have thought it all through a bit more thoroughly before committing myself to spending an evening at Terminal 5, as I’ve had bad experiences with not being able to see the stage properly and encountering too many obnoxious bros there in the past. Yet somehow I was sucked back in again.

I went into the Mercedes-Benz –sponsored “Evolution Tour” event this past Thursday July 24^th with the mindset to try to actively separate the performance of Alabama Shakes from the venue itself. At first the night was pretty fun, as there was an open bar as well as lots of fun freebies from other sponsors (Baked By Melissa, Kind Bars, Pop Chips, etc) and Mercedes-Benz’ new vehicles on display, which would later be covered in various colors of paint by artist Mr. Brainwash.

The opening DJ set by Questlove was actually a lot of fun. I’m familiar with the work he does with The Roots as well as his work as bandleader on The Tonight Show, but I had never seen him DJ before. As far as I could tell, he seemed to be playing music that pleased not only himself, but the crowd as well. Included in the set were such danceable pop hits as “Billie Jean,” “Hey Ya,” “Thrift Shop,” “Tequilla” (in honor of it being National Tequila Day), and my personal favorite, leading the Happy Days theme song into Pharrell’s “Happy.”

Questlove’s set was the perfect way to get the crowd pumped up and ready to jam. (Maybe even a little too ready to jam, as this was about the point when I decided to extricate myself from the crowd of bros who were now spilling their drinks everywhere, and head up to the 2^nd and 3^rd floors.) Alabama Shakes, who formed in 2009 and seemingly skyrocketed to overnight success, played mostly songs from their debut LP, Boys and Girls. There are few frontwomen (or frontmen) as captivating and talented as Brittany Howard. With a voice that blends together southern rock, blues, and soul in such a heart wrenching way, you actually believe her when she sings, “Bless my heart, bless my soul. Didn’t think I’d make it to 22 years old,” in “Hold On.”

Though toward the end of the set, I found myself wanting to just get the hell out, (purely because of the venue and its inhabitants and not at all because the band wasn’t great), I stuck it out and tried to enjoy it the best I could. So to sum things up, I would go see Alabama Shakes again in a heartbeat, as long as it’s anywhere but Terminal 5.