Everything 06/23/2014 by Tanner Morris

LIVE: Foxy Shazam @ Mill City Nights

Only two words can properly sum up the night, Rock & Roll. The Gonzo Tour Featuring Foxy Shazam and Larry and His Flask at Mill City Nights could be best described as a party. Not the sophisticated boring kind that your grandma and grandpa come out to so they can smother you with hugs and kisses. I’m talking about the type of party that you dare not tell your parents about having at their house while they went on a spiritual getaway trip to Guatemala.

Photos by: Tanner Morris & Alexander Just // Review by: Tyler Norkunas

Minneapolis locals Kick got the party started with some awesome originals. These guys had everything a good rock band should have. Energy, an electric vocalist, solid showmanship. Topping it off with a stellar cover of “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness really got the crowd in the right mood. Head to their Facebook and give them a listen!

Photo Cred: Tanner Morris

Photo Cred: Alexander Just

Photo Cred: Tanner Morris

Photo Cred: Alexander Just

Photo Cred: Tanner Morris

Photo Cred: Alexander Just

Photo Cred: Tanner Morris

Next on the lineup were Larry & His Flask.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into when I saw a banjo and a contra bass come on stage. Once that band got started though, it ended up being one of the craziest performances I have seen. Is Southern Blues Backwoods Punk an acceptable genre? Well if it’s not these guys should coin it.

Bassist Jeshua Marshall was a hard character to miss on stage swinging his Contra Bass left to right, up and down, behind his back, (not to mention bringing into the crowd) and then proceeding to jump around like a mad man on caffeine high. The set list consisted of ska songs(trombone included), good ol’ fashioned southern bluegrass, punk rock, and Louisiana blues. If the show couldn’t get any more wild, on the last song we were all instructed to get on our knees until the count of 4. Tension ensued with the whole room of 600+ people on our knees wondering what was coming next. Once that 4 count hit, the whole room was up moving their feet and jumping and dancing with one another. All in all, this set was all about drunken antics not only on the stage but in the crowd.

Larry & His Flask couldn’t have been a more accurate name for this band.

Foxy Shazam Mill City Nights-26 — Photo Cred: Tanner Morris

Photo Cred: Alexander Just

Photo Cred: Tanner Morris

Foxy Shazam Mill City Nights-23 — Photo Cred: Tanner Morris

Then the big guns came out for the final act, Foxy Shazam. A psychedelic hip-shaking sexually appealing blast back to the 70’s. At the center of the band playing for the “Church of Rock & Roll” is frontman Eric Sean Nally, a man that gives ‘Moves Like Jagger’ a literal reference.

While the rest of the band was playing a roaring selection of songs relating to big black asses and getting down and dirty in the bedroom, you could find Nally dancing and spinning his way from one side of the stage to another never missing the microphone for a line. A literal hero for all of us that practice dance moves in our bathroom after a hot shower, you give us hope!

The rest of the lineup was just as electric as the set went on. Keyboardist Schuyler Vaughn White was definetly drawing some attention to his position in the back of the stage doing handstands on his keyboard, picking it up and playing it like a keytar, and even playing with his feet at times (how does that even work?!).

Alex Nauth on the Trumpet/Backing Vocals was all for making the ladies scream by ripping off his shirt and moving his hips in a very prerogative manner. Aside from all the excitement on stage, I couldn’t have been more happy with their choice of songs. I Like It, Oh Lord, Unstoppable, Holy Touch, and Welcome To The Church Of Rock & Roll had to have been my top 5 for the night.

Though I was never able to get up front and personal to the stage this show, I did catch a security guard in the back throwing his hands up and dancing around for the bands. I mean a security guard! You know the big muscular guys who are all gritty about taking out your camera for pictures or crowd surfing? If you can catch one of those guys getting funky to the music, then this show is already one for the record books.