Remember all those great soul and funk bands from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s? You may have thought that style of music was gone forever, but Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings are keeping it alive. They played their brand of R&B to a sold-out crowd at The Orange Peel in Asheville on Sunday, March 13.

Harkening back to the live performances of James Brown and Ike & Tina Turner, the 54-year-old singer showed tireless energy as she danced and paced the stage in a set that lasted nearly two hours. Some singers are not entertainers, and some entertain a lot better than they can sing. Sharon Jones, however, is the total package—a fabulous singer who ceaselessly entertained the enthusiastic audience packed into the Peel.

The Brooklyn-based Dap-Kings, essentially the house band for Daptone Records, took the stage and warmed up with an instrumental number before guitarist Binky Griptite sang the first song of the evening. Binky then acted as emcee for the rest of the show in addition to his guitar duties.

Other Dap-Kings include Tommy "TnT" Brenneck (guitar), Dave Guy (trumpet), Ian Hendrickson-Smith (baritone sax), Bosco Mann (bass), Homer Steinweiss (drums), Neal Sugarman (tenor), and Bugaloo Velez (congas). The guys were joined by female backup singers called the Dapettes.

The Dapettes have great voices, too, and the Dap-Kings are masterful musicians, but Sharon was the true star of the show. She delighted the audience with her dancing, grabbed everyone's attention with her storytelling between songs, sang to members of the audience whom she had brought to the stage, and generally lit up the place with her electric personality.

And the music is so true to that retro soul sound that you would think Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings had been playing together since the 1970s. The band, though, is actually just a decade old, having released Dap-Dippin' in 2002 and following that up with Naturally in 2005. Fame and popularity continued to grow with the release of 100 Days, 100 Nights in 2007. The most recent album from the group is 2010's I Learned the Hard Way.

Sharon sang several songs from the newest album and filled in with greatest hits from past albums. The Dap-Kings took the stage for an encore with a cover of The Four Tops' "Reach Out I'll Be There" led by the baritone sax playing the melody. Sharon then took the stage for a couple more songs including the James Brown classic "It's a Man's World." The show ended just past midnight.

Prior to Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Asheville's own Reigning Sound kicked off the evening. They group is led by Greg Cartwright who is known from his work in the Memphis-based Compulsive Gamblers and later The Oblivians. Greg played guitar and sang lead and was backed by Dave Amels on keys, David Wayne Gay on bass, and Lance Willie on drums.

Reigning Sound put on a great performance in their own right—playing 15 songs—as their blend of rock-and-roll and R&B had the crowd swinging, shaking, and swaying, perfectly primed for Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings.