FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS : Concert Review

By

Scary Barry

Rodriguez

April 3, 2014

With great anticipation I looked forward to this concert. Myself and Magic Merlin Paul Malolot , all around tech wiz and road warrior, parked downtown and walked a short stretch to the venue. Having never attended any event at the Fox theater I was blown away by its majestic interior. The architecture is off the hook. 

Of course being a true VUP ( very unimportant person ) at first I hesitated to upgrade our tickets for the convenience. I took the plunge and it was worth it ! The comfy VIP lounge , complete with its own bar , restrooms , lounge furniture and food, is something that prevents one from being subjected to the whims of the unwashed masses. Ha !

Magic Merlin Paul went bonkers taking pictures of the the plush interior of the theater , with its ornate high ceiling and balcony areas. We hung out in the VIP lounge for most of the opening acts , the Bad Suns and Nightmare And The Cats. I did catch part of the Cats set. These guys were very young and very nervous. They told the crowd that the gig was their biggest show yet. Despite any knee knocking jitters, they soldiered on in a respectable fashion. Its very hard for a group when you know that everyone is just waiting for the headliners !

 

From our VIP area we watched as Fitz and The Tantrums came on stage to much fanfare. They almost immediately started belting out their signature uptempo songs. Fitz let the crowd know straight away that they were expected to participate by shaking and moving. The Scary one was immensely grateful for the many hours spent in a local gym because it was nonstop moving the entire show !

 

From a musical standpoint it was quite obvious that the Tantrums are a well schooled group of professionals. The drummer , bass player and keyboard & sax player are top notch.Up front Fitz and Noelle held forth presenting a vocal match that is rare anymore in an era when props and gadgets replaces talent. 

It harkens back to the R&B days , when vocal duos powered all the top Soul acts. All the youngsters out there in the make believe music world of today should take note. Good songs , with killer choruses , like those that the Tantrums put out song after song will trump the over produced garbage any day of the week ! 

The concert wasn't overly long. This is understandable given the intensity and uptempo level of all the songs. There was no filler , only meat ! During the show Fitz and Noelle thanked the crowd for their patronage profusely. All the members of the group had toiled long and hard to obtain the success they were now experiencing. Being a musical genius I wasn't at all surprised that they held " Money Grabber " in reserve for the encore. One more song after that the lights came on and it was all over. The concert was a very satisfying experience , everyone left with a good vibe !

 

Now , I just wonder about how Fitz and The Tantrums will evolve next , after the their first two CD's , PICKING UP THE PIECES and MORE THAN JUST A DREAM. They got the format down cold so where do they go to ? They have the opportunity to clean up because their style stands alone at this time. Lets hope they seize the moment and" keep on keeping on" making us shake our collective booties !

barryrodriguez (c) 2014. all rights reserved.

layout by magic merlin paul malolot.