Foxy Shazam’s sold out show at the Knitting Factory, March 27, 2012, NYC did not disappoint. The gig opened with a band called Cadaver Dogs. The singer, Matthew, who more people may know as Foxy’s merch seller, brought an expletive and hard rock filled 30 minute set. They got the crowd pumped and stoked for the headliner as any opening band should through tales of Matthew’s life as a rock star both in his songs and comments he made during the breaks that demanded the audience’s attention, instead of just asking for it. They concluded their set with a hard rock anthem which I’m sure brought them many new fans.
Maniac, the second band playing, had a whole different vibe. To start, they had a large number of six members in the group. Their first song gave me the wrong impression of them, with a folksy number that sounded much like Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, but every song following that brought heavier drums to create a distinct sound. They also used quirky instruments to synthesize a variety of rhythms into their songs. These instruments included a tambourine and harmonica. They also had two lead male singers whose voices blended together to create beautiful melodies. Although this band was very different from the other two playing the gig, it was a nice break in between the loud rock’n’roll.
The anticipation for Foxy Shazam was peaking just as all members, but the singer, Eric Nally, entered the stage. As they began playing a song, they left the crowd wondering “Where is Eric?” When the rambunctious singer finally made his appearance, the crowd’s energy had really come alive. To start off the show, Nally dove into the crowd briefly. Although touring with their new album The Church of Rock and Roll, Foxy played songs from many different albums including their self-titled album Foxy Shazam, and Introducing…Foxy. Some of these songs included ones rarely played live by the band such as “Ghost Animals,” “Dog in Love with a Kitty,” and “Bombs Away.” Nally never fails to hold his energy throughout the entire performance which is truly amazing seeing as he dances around wildly for the complete duration of each song as well as sings. He told the crowd at one point that he is always asked by reporters why he has to jump around and act like a monkey on stage all the time and his reply was “I just want as much attention as possible and a lot of the time, the best way to do that is to act like a fucking monkey.”
Nally is known for his words in between songs and his stories that leave the audience hanging on his every word to see what clever response he will come up with this time and last night he did not disappoint. My favorite thing to see was when he smoked about 6 or 7 cigarettes at a time, which he got from the crowd, and then proceeded to stuff them all in his mouth, burning embers first and chewed them up quite nicely. They concluded their set with a song from their new album called “Freedom,” having thoroughly entertained us for quite some time. The next stops on the Tabernacle Tour have something great in store for them!
– Courtney Clark
