Concert Review: Neal Francis (Cleveland, OH; 03.20.25)

The dream of the 70s was alive at Beachland Ballroom Thursday (March 20, 2025) night. Neal Francis kicked off the tour promoting his latest album, 2025’s Return to Zero, making Beachland the first stop on a tour that has several sold-out dates already. The first night of the tour was a success by any metric. The funky grooves, palpable energy, disco feel, and stage presence of the band made for an epic night.

Improvement Movement opened, a four-piece out from Atlanta that had all sorts of musical influences in their sound. Some stuff was similar to Francis’ in its 70’s influences, some Steely Dan-styled songs, and some songs had guitar elements of laid-back island jams. There were lots of harmonies on songs like “Too Far” that were reminiscent of a rock-infused CSNY. The band was also having a lot of fun on stage, saying they had songs about cannibalism and songs for the haters. I don’t think the smile left the keyboardist’s face the entire show.

Francis walked on stage in a red button-up shirt, unbuttoned to the third button, tight black pants, a studded belt, and a gold chain. He asked how we were doing and then went right into “Dance Through Life” from the new album. The song has this great piano intro that sounds like something straight from the late 70s, so much so, it’s like something you’d expect to hear sampled on a 90s rap album. All of that made it a really great song to kick off the set. It’s a song about oscillating between pain and joy, about being restless, with an undeniable groove. Between that groove and the disco ball going, the entire crowd was restless, too. They just had to move to the beat. “Why don’t we try to dance through life instead,” Francis sang. “Passes in a moment, and then you’re dead,” he sang with a big smile on his face as he played his Hohner.

About half of the 90-minute set consisted of songs from Return to Zero, which was fine with me, as even though it was released only about a week ago, it’s an instant classic, in my opinion. While the album itself has other vocalists and instruments spread throughout, the four-piece band on stage really brought the songs to life on their own, proving these songs should be seen live.

There were so many highlights from the evening. It’s hard to single out one or two. There were some great extended jam sessions on songs like “Very Fine,” where Francis had this whammy bar hooked up to his piano thing and would get in this trance mode where he really let rip on that thing.

Those jam sessions he did on the keys were so much fun to watch, especially on the whammy bar. Francis did another extended jam on “Back It Up,” which had backing vocals and a high-pitched “Ahhhh,” that the rest of the band joined in on, sounding like a classic Queen song. But these songs were not all just jamming and soloing. They were mostly tight and funky with some jams spread among them, more groove bands than jam bands.

The band itself was tight, too. Drummer Collin O’Brien and Bassist Mike Starr had the task of carrying the weight of the funk-heavy sounds for the night, but each were given their moments to shine. On songs like the fantastic “Prometheus,” O’Brien ripped it up on the drums. Francis had his two piano/keyboard setup in a V shape at the front of the stage, so O’Brien was to the left of him, rather than being relegated to the typical drummer placement at the back of stage. That translated into a beat you could really feel at the front of the stage, where I remained for the entirety of the show.

Prior to stopping to write and record this album, Francis was on what sounded like a grueling tour schedule for basically four years. But that constant touring has translated into a person who knows how to perform live. As previously mentioned, these songs need to be seen live, and Francis is the driving force behind that. The band is so much fun, and Francis has so much stage presence. He knows how to work a crowd, with equal parts swagger and joy. This was most on display during “Times We Had,” when he came out from behind the keys, strutted across the front of the stage, and then dropped down into the crowd. He went so far into the audience that he nearly unplugged his mic cord. The crowd just gathered around him and grooved to the bass line as he sang directly to them.

At one point in the set, Francis said that Beachland is, “with all sincerity,” one of his favorite places to play in the country. It sure felt like it. The show was undeniably electric. Anyone thinking about seeing them on this tour, absolutely should. I know I’ll be seeing him again as soon as possible.