G. Love and Special Sauce

Though he hasn’t yet been able to match the success of his 1994 self-titled album, especially its “Cold Beverage,” Garrett Dutton (G. Love to the ladies) has been busy with and without his Special Sauce bandmates. He’s released an album every few years, occasionally teaming up with such notables as Dr. John and everyone’s favorite surf-jammer, Jack Johnson. After being dropped by Sony, he signed to Johnson’s Brushfire label in 2004 and released The Hustle. This year, however, G. Love came upon what has probably been his biggest payoff — that annoyingly ubiquitous Diet Coke commercial that resurrects the “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” jingle (why, oh why?). Despite shilling sugar water, G. Love puts on a good show — the band’s mix of blue-eyed hip-hop, rock and blues has consistently attracted a faithful and diverse Kansas City crowd. And, hell yes, this time it’s at a casino, so you can grab cheap drinks and shoot some craps while the dudes with dreads sing along to “Baby’s Got Sauce.”