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They’re quite possibly the only live band on the planet that can make Adele, Russell Crowe, Robert Plant and Jack White break out in a cold sweat — and on June 24, Alabama Shakes return to the city to play a free concert at Summerstage.
Labeling them a “buzz band” doesn’t even begin to describe the Shakes’ unprecedented rise. Only a year ago, the four 20-somethings from Athens, Ala., were hunkered down in a Nashville recording studio, bent on changing the world with their youthful blast of maximum R&B.
Rock critics and fans eventually responded in droves, with lead singer Brittany Howard drawing comparisons to Janis Joplin and Tina Turner for her edgy, explosive voice.
The band’s debut, “Boys & Girls,” is a fireball of hard-driving soul that sports a late ’60s sound, but never feels retro.
“When we wrote this album, it wasn’t like, ‘We want to be a retro soul band,’” Howard told The Post. “Our influences are so vast — we’re into Black Sabbath, AC/DC and the White Stripes, but then at the same time we like Hank Williams and Patsy Cline.”
The band’s live shows ebb and flow with moments of slow-cooking intensity and punk-rockish bursts. The Shakes can lock up a solid groove or play laid-back and loose. Call it an innate sense of cool or the brashness of youth, but they’re never wound too tight when they’re onstage.
“We really work off each other,” Howard says. “That’s why I love doing this, and really, I never expected to be playing to thousands of people. It’s gonna be awesome to play in Central Park. It’s cool to know that you can have this connection with so many people.”
The Shakes are just one of many bright spots on the park-music calendar this summer. Others include;
LARRY GRAHAM: June 7; BAM R&B Festival (MetroTech Commons). Sly Stone’s original bassist serves up sophisticated funk with his own Graham Central Station. The BAM fest also presents Arturo O’Farrill (June 14), Fishbone (June 28) and others; bam.org.
CHARLIE WATTS: June 28; Midsummer Night Swing (Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center). The Rolling Stones drummer gets his ya-yas out with the A,B,C & D of Boogie Woogie — their first US appearance. Tickets $17; midsummernightswing.org.
GUIDED BY VOICES: July 7; CBGB Festival at Central Park SummerStage (Rumsey Playfield). Indie rock’s longest-running bar band headlines a free show in honor of Hilly Kristal’s downtown punk playground; summerstage.org.
BUDDY GUY: July 11; Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival (WFC Plaza). At 74 and still cranking, the Chicago blues legend shares the stage with Brit blues-rock vet John Mayall. July 12 brings Neko Case and Charles Bradley; artsbrookfield.com.
GEORGE CLINTON and PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC: July 12; River to River Festival (Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City). The indestructible funk overlord tears the roof off with the P-Funk crew; rivertorivernyc.com.
AMADOU & MARIAM: Aug. 4; Rumsey Playfield. The blind couple from Mali lay down a cosmopolitan blend of worldbeat, rock and hip-hop; summerstage.org.
MUSIC OF LAURA NYRO and GIL SCOTT-HERON: Aug. 11 & 12; Roots of American Music Festival (Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center). Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash of Labelle lead a tribute to Bronx-born songstress Laura Nyro, while the late Gil Scott-Heron gets the star treatment from the Black Rock Coalition Orchestra and distinguished guests; lcoutofdoors.org.
PETE ROCK VS. DJ PREMIER: Aug. 22; East River Park. Two hip-hop legends dust off their vinyl and do battle on the wheels of steel; summerstage.org.