As you walked in the door to The Song and Dance in Syracuse on Wednesday, March 4th, you are greeted with turns and stairs and a sense of, “Is this a music venue or an apartment building?” But as you follow the signs downstairs you begin to see the venue, looking like an indoor greenhouse in the basement lobby of a hotel. There was no telling how fitting this all was until the music started, and to say this was an unusual concert would be an understatement – this was more like a trip with Alice down the rabbit hole. A night of music, theatrics, props and topped with coordinated chaos; this was a Foxy Shazam concert.
Opening for Wednesday night on the tour was Moondough, a soulful, self-proclaimed, bedroom jazz style, with a hint of some funk thrown in there too. Led by Ken Raymundo, the band took the stage at The Song and Dance with ‘80s-style sunglasses and a fuzzy bucket hat, but that wasn’t the peak to their funkiness. Starting the show with their hit “Intrusive Thoughts” and taking it up a notch with every jammy, soul fueled melody they played, their set continued with “OMW” and ended with a bang via “Vibes” that had the entire venue feeling just that. Leading to a little meet and greet in the lobby with some of the nicest musicians in the industry, the band shared the setlist written off a piece of cardboard box.
Setlist: Intrusive Thoughts, OMW, Nice Trip, Social, Rocket, Drunk, Vibes
As an 80s looking computer was rolled onto the stage, the unknowing were confused and you could see it in the eyes of the crowd as the set up for Descartes A Kant was starting to take form in front of their eyes. The entire venue was transformed into, what seemed like, an Atari game, the background gave prompt questions like, “Do you choose destruction or to create?,” which then lead into the next song. In unison, the members on Descartes A Kant donned glowing space helmets and suits to add to their unique style and as their set came to a close, destruction was chosen by the computer as smoke started to pour out of it and our band “took off” from this reality, the entire venue in shock over what just took place.
Foxy Shazam, the reason for the night, took the stage as any other band would, but what would happen next would be just like the title of one of their songs, “Magic,” and if you’re not familiar with Foxy, you better get there real quick, they’re a name on the rise and very good reason for that. Foxy Shazam hails from Cincinnati, Ohio and formed in 2004 with a hiatus in 2014, returning to the music world in 2020, with a lineup of Eric Nally as lead vocals, Sky White on the piano, trumpeter and back-up vocalist, Alex Nauth, Mister Universe on the bass, Devin Williams on the guitar and Teddy Aitkins on drums. Together, they combine into an amazing group of musicians who have a nonstop energy and bring every bit of it into their music.
Foxy Shazam is like watching Queen in a small club before they were famous; not only does this glam-rock style and crushing vocals sound like early Queen, but frontman Nally even bares a slight resemblance to Freddie Mercury. As Nally sang, he was often caught doing somersaults and teasing the crowd with larger than life theatrics. This wasn’t reserved for just Foxy’s frontman; Sky White used his feet on his piano and at one point lifted it into the crowd, who held it above their heads while Sky continued to play with bubbles in the air, everyone eating up all that was happening.
If you haven’t heard of Foxy Shazam before, you may not be alone, but one thing is for sure – get yourself acquainted as these musicians work magic from every aspect of their performance and they will accept second place at no cost, every lyric and note was earth shattering, a 5-star band without a doubt.
Setlist: It’s Hair Smelled Like Bonfire, Magic, Yes! Yes! Yes!, Holy Touch, The Temple, Wanna Be Angel, Killin’ It, Bittersweet Cherries, Dremer, Man In Bloom/Savage Beauty, Love Like This, A Black Man’s Breakfast, Only Love, Oh Lord, Burn, Ghost Animals, The Rocketeer, The Only Way To My Heart
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