Rare Essence Concert History

Rare Essence, affectionately known by their fans as "THE WICKEDEST BAND ALIVE", grew from a relationship between four childhood friends: Quinten "Footz" Davidson, Andre "Whiteboy" Johnson, Michael "Funky Ned" Neal and John Jones. After school, the four young musicians would get together in each other's basements and play top forty hits from such influential bands like Parliament/Funkadelic, Cameo, and Confunkshun. Eventually the band adapted more players and conformed to the go-go sound that started in 1976.

Date Concert Venue Location
Jan 08, 2017
Globalfest
"Globalfest" / Batida / Hoba Hoba Spirit / Jojo Abot / Maarja Nuut / Rare Essence / Alsarah / Rudresh Mahanthappa / Septeto Santiaguero
Webster Hall New York, New York, United States
Jan 17, 2016
Rare Essence The Howard Theatre Washington, D.C., United States
Mar 17, 2015 –
Mar 22, 2015
SXSW 2015
James Bay / ODESZA / Jessie Ware / GoldLink / Courtney Barnett / Twin Shadow / Wolf Alice / Glen Hansard / Alvvays / Modestep / The Dodos / The Big Pink / Oh Sees / Quantic / The Church / Bomba Estéreo / Civil Twilight / Ben Kweller / Lewis Watson / Ibeyi / twin peaks / Ball Park Music / Dry the River / Coasts / Black Milk / Hinds / Summer Heart / Que / Lydia / Moon Duo / Hypnotic Brass Ensemble / The Twilight Sad / Transit / Low Roar / Sy Ari Da Kid / Charlotte OC / Royal Teeth / Mini Mansions / All Them Witches / Bishop Nehru / Dustin Kensrue / Hey Marseilles / The Octopus Project / MC Lars / Lolawolf / Bonaparte / The Stone Foxes / Songhoy Blues / Happyness / Natural Child / The California Honeydrops / Wand / Brolin / Whitehorse / The Last Bison / Will Butler / Twerps / The Pop Group / Luluc / Carl Barât / Jenn Grant / Alexz Johnson / El Mató a un Policía Motorizado / Cheerleader / Institute / Lust for Youth / Fatherson / Low Cut Connie / Blondage / Skinny Lister / Waldo / Txarango / Jared & The Mill / HEAT / Sleep Over / Pharmakon / Suicideyear / Tanya Tagaq / Ben Caplan / Black Taxi / The Bros. Landreth / The Bogan Via / Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers / The Parrots / Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires / Emily Wolfe / Ume / Luisa Sobral / Rare Essence / Hotel Mira / Dark Time Sunshine / Mr.Kitty / Blacklist Royals / Marching Church / Talking To Turtles / Noveller / Ceschi / Be Forest / The Gooch Palms / The Lonely Wild / Dena / Baby In Vain / Babes / Warm Soda / Butcher Brown / Lost Midas / Nakia / Close Talker / The Inspector Cluzo / Hailey Tuck / Weekend Money / Jess Williamson / Charanjit Singh / Hanne Kolstø / The Matinee / Bloods / Kydd / El Freaky / Autoramas / Vaadat Charigim / Grounders / Ee / Dead Leaf Echo / SORNE / Suboi / Dream Police / vampillia / The East Cameron Folkcore / Big Phony / Wray / Howie Lee / The Dove & the Wolf / Lazyeyes / Nightmare Air / Colin Gilmore / Vuurwerk / The Sour Notes / Residual Kid / Mekaal Hasan Band / Roddy / Danny B. Harvey / The Boxing Lesson / Mise En Scene / Joycut / Sleeperhold / Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts / DTCV / No Brain / Crew54 / Prefiero Fernandez / OWS / Agoraphobia / SUM / Publicist UK / The Barberettes / Miss Chain & The Broken Heels / Jonathan Toubin / Ocellot / Encoder / Pommez Internacional / Gold Beach / El Conjunto Nueva Ola / Hickman-Dalton Gang / Jitterbug Vipers / Haroon / Sexores / Mothercoat / Talkshow / Soft Lions / Vockah Redu / Angelo Moore & the Brand New Step / Dances / Demi Louise / Shorte / Tourmaline / La Orquesta Vulgar / Mai Dhai / Agosto / Heaters (MI) / Marcelo Fruet & os Cozinheiros / Dani Mari / Buenaparte / Panda Elliot / Poor Rich Boy / Diwan Saz / Chihiro Yamazaki + Route 14 band / Eastern Sidekick / Haioka / Krypol Haze / Streetz-n-Young Deuces / Hank West and the Smokin' Hots / Will Hanza / Lovers League / Owl and Wolf / Khumariyaan / Silk Rodeo / Pia Zapata / Jay Nash and Josh Day are the Contenders / SHIVRS / Love Inks Austin / Sain Tanveer Brothers / Cettina Donato & Serena Brancale Group / Rocky-Nova / Torres / Lydia Ainsworth / Preoccupations / A.G. Cook / SOPHIE / Rae Sremmurd / Talk in Tongues / Only Real / Waxahatchee / Hundred Waters / Makthaverskan / Untold / Terry Malts / Deerhoof / Chastity Belt / Kero Kero Bonito / Gang Of Four / Christian Bland & the Revelators / Rozwell Kid / Diarrhea Planet / Pile / Mitski / United Nations / Olivia Jean / Tall Tall Trees / Kari Faux / Seinabo Sey / Ex-Cult / Jacco Gardner / Woozy / Paperhaus / SALES / Ceremony / Iceage / Twinsmith / Earl Sweatshirt Show all bands
  Setlists
Austin, Texas, United States
Show Duplicates for Mar 17, 2015
Dec 29, 2013
Rare Essence The Howard Theatre Washington, D.C., United States
Nov 10, 2013
Rare Essence / Trouble Funk The Howard Theatre Washington, D.C., United States
Aug 03, 2013
The Summer Spirit Festival 2013
Busta Rhymes / Erykah Badu / D'Angelo / Hiatus Kaiyote / Mike Epps / Rare Essence / Black Alley
Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, Maryland, United States
Oct 08, 2010 –
Oct 10, 2010
Rare Essence / Lil’ Ed and the Imperials / No BS! Brass Band / Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-Fonics

Richmond Folk Festival

Brown's Island Richmond, Virginia, United States
Aug 26, 2006
Chuck Brown & Soul Searchers / Rare Essence 9:30 Club Washington, D.C., United States
Dec 27, 2004
The Roots / Rare Essence / Big Daddy Kane / Kool G Rap / Skillz / Trunk North / Rahzel 9:30 Club Washington, D.C., United States

Latest Videos View All Videos



The Roots Picnic (PA)
Jun 3 - 4, 2023
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  Added by Donta


The Roots Picnic (PA)
Jun 3 - 4, 2023
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  Added by Donta


The Roots Picnic (PA)
Jun 3 - 4, 2023
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  Added by Donta


The Roots Picnic (PA)
Jun 3 - 4, 2023
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  Added by Donta

Funk
Go-Go
DC

Open YouTube Playlist

View Concert

2024 2 concerts
2023 4 concerts
2022 9 concerts
2021 4 concerts
2020 2 concerts
2019 6 concerts
2018 5 concerts
2017 9 concerts
2016 1 concert
2015 1 concert
2013 3 concerts
2010 1 concert
2006 1 concert
2004 1 concert
 Missylagrotta
 Seaninconcert
 This Is Hip
 Ace870
 Kerig97
 Mandy 💫
 Ss
 Sneha
 Elizabeth Bryant
 Blaire
 Jerrell Funtila
 Greta
 Malena Lennon
 Katelyn Rabak
 Carlyn98

Sign Up or Login to comment.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)


How many concerts has Rare Essence had?

Rare Essence has had 49 concerts.

What genre is Rare Essence?

Rare Essence is most often considered to be Funk, Go-Go, and DC.

When is the next Rare Essence concert?

The next Rare Essence concert is on May 26, 2024 at The Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., United States.

When was the last Rare Essence concert?

The last Rare Essence concert was on January 15, 2024 at The Hamilton Live in Washington, D.C., United States. The bands that performed were: Rare Essence / Black Alley.

What setlist does Rare Essence play live?

The songs that Rare Essence performs live vary, but here's the latest setlist that we have from the June 24, 2018 concert at U Street Music Hall:

  1. Mannish Boy
  2. Freaky Deak
  3. Umm Umm Good (Hollywood)
  4. One on One
  5. Holy Ghost
  6. Overnight Scenario
  7. Smoke solo
  8. Pieces of Me
  9. Kwick drum solo / Shorty Dud solo
  10. Rock This Party
  11. Where They At?
  12. Party Lights
  13. Jas Funk in the Pocket
  14. Lock It
  15. Get Busy / Move Something / Shake It Mama Shake It
  16. Do You Know What Time It Is?
  17. RAR EE SSEN CE
  18. Wickedest Band Alive
  19. I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together

As Seen On: