Event Review: Fitz and the Tantrums 11/08/11

Fitz and the Tantrums in Lancaster, PA, 11/08/11

I don't know but I've been told...that Fitz and the Tantrums put on a kickass live show.

Before we begin, I would like to say that I have discovered Drinkify and it has sucked up almost an hour of my free time in the past week. And if one is listening to Fitz and the Tantrums, Drinkify suggests 6 ounces of Hennessy, on the rocks, garnished with a twist of grapefruit. Right now I'm drinking hard cider because it's a) leftover from my birthday and b) the only thing in the house, so it'll have to do.

I was lucky enough to score tickets to their show at the Chameleon Club in Lancaster, PA. It's almost impossibly tiny, with room for maybe just a couple hundred people. It expands not horizontally but vertically, with the floor level, second-floor balcony, complete with bar, and third floor. After a drink on the third floor, Mom and I stationed ourselves railside on the second, courtesy of some friendly high-schoolers from York who squeezed together to allow us room.

Walk the Moon clears their Chameleon set

The opening band was a quartet of early twenty-somethings called Walk the Moon (8 oz cocaine; serve neat, stir slowly)  from Cleveland. Their hipsters appearance hid expectations of the a glam-rock sound they produced. they impressed me right away with their rhythms and enthusiasm. I must say that, however, that I find their habit of decorating themselves with neon warpaint before they go on a little pretentious; I thought I was being too hard on them until I spotted the lead singer at the merch table after the show, offering to paint the faces of admiring fans (aka, girls).

They played about eight songs, all of them upbeat, and worked themselves into a sweaty lather before signing off for the night. Oh, and they covered Fleet Foxes' "White Winter Hymnal," and somehow avoided destroying it. In fact, they made it sound quite hip. But anyway. For the most part they cleared up their own equipment. After that, we waited for the stroke of 9:35 for Fitz and company to take to the stage.

They opened with my personal favorite, "Don't Gotta Work it Out." About halfway into that first song, Fitz noticed the top two floors of spectators; his look of genuine surprise was endearing. Throughout the show, he would wave and point to us while singing. After ending the first ditty, we were greeted with a "Helloooooo Lancaster" from Fitz and an "are you ready to get the fuck down?!" from singer Noelle Scaggs. Then it was time to boogie. Through the whole discography they kept us into the show with claps, sing-alongs and dancing.

I don't know what the off-stage relationship between Fitz and Noelle is, but I will say this: they have got some serious chemistry. It is hinted at in many of their music videos, but when you see them together on stage, you can almost feel the heat coming off of them as they sing to each other, dance around each other, and occasionally, dance on each other. Noelle provides vocals and tamborine, and she does a damn good job.

And Fitz is quite a dancer! When he wasn't singing I thought he was going to backflip off of the stage! Dude's got some moves. And the other musicians are fantastic, especially woodwind player James King, who manned the sax most of the night but also turned to flute for songs such as "Breaking the Chains of Love."

In addition to playing all of "Pickin' Up the Pieces", The band debuted a couple of new songs that they've been working on while on the road; one, "Wake Up," was pretty damn catchy. The other, I don't recall, although that shouldn't detract from it at all. Everything they played that night was spectacular.

The last half hour or so of the show was given over completely to rocking out to the fastest, danciest songs; I didn't take any photos. Mom and I were dancing like maniacs; elbowing one another, our purses swinging wildly off of our elbows as we got down. At one point, we literally got down; Noelle and Fitz called out anybody they could see who wasn't. The image of me in skinny jeans, attempting to back it up without elbowing any of my neighbors or ripping any denim, must have been hilarious.

They surprised us all with the first song of the encore (after five minutes of vocal chord-hemmoraging screams and cheers); it took me about 30 seconds to realize what I was hearing, but they covered Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams are Made of This!" The final song of the encore was, of course, their number 1 hit: Moneygrabber. By the time they left the stage, almost everyone was sweaty, out of breath, and elated. My vantage point from the second floor helped me to see that I wasn't the only one.

Me and Noelle!

 We got to meet Fitz, bass player Joseph Karnes, and Noelle at their merch table, and they were so friendly! Handshakes and introductions, pictures, autographs, the full nine yards. It was nice to see that despite their rapid rise over the past year or so, they weren't above taking the time to learn our names and thank us for coming. And they seemed to genuinely appreciate our attention and our comments. They solicited this interaction as well: at the end of the show they encouraged us to come and see them at the merch tables. No tour bus stalking this time!

Me with Fitz! He says the gray is au natural

Mom bought tickets to Fitz's show in Philly the following Saturday, forcing my dad to come along. I am happy to report that they came home just after 1:00 in the morning, giggling, and proceeded to talk our ears off about how much fun they'd had. Mom swore that Fitz had seen her in the crowd, and maybe recognized her from Tuesday night. My dad even demonstrated some of the dancing he had been doing! Bless him. The man is whiter than a corpse on the dance floor but he certainly tries.

Fitz strikes a pose with my mom

So at the end of the day, this is a band that not only has a pretty rockin' album, but is worth seeing twice in the same week in two different cities. Their energy is contagious, and you'll leave feeling like you just left a kickass, 70s soul-themed party that may or may not have turned into an orgy after you left. If you shell out the minimal ticket prices to see these guys, I guarantee that you won't regret it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to obtain some Hennessy and grapefruit.