I came to the Crocodile aware that the bill was down from 3 bands to 2. Foxy Shazam‘s lead singer, Eric Nally, had recently “poked his eye out” and the band had cancelled shows for a month or so. What would Hollerado and Free Energy bring to fill the evening?
Turns out, they brought it all. Tons of onstage energy, confetti guns, wrestling band members, a very long drinking straw to enable sipping the audience beer from the stage, coordinated line dancing, and really well crafted songs with adept musicianship.
Hollerado belted out a series of tight pop songs, and made an easy connection with the audience. Spare lighting, tons of jumping around, singing and clapping, a good bit of banter…they put the audience in a great mood and encouraged everyone to frankly have as much fun as they were. Free Energy came out and joined in singing during one song, adding to the air of cameraderie.
Free Energy then followed up with a *great*, high energy set. The guitar solos spiraled through the chords, vocals were bright, the drums were rocket solid. A vibe, look and sound that clearly evoked an earlier era in a very inviting way, I found myself hearing bits of The Knack at times, Thin Lizzy at other times, and a crispy sound of their own throughout.
I was looking forward to an energetic performance, and found the night filled with connection and a lighthearted competence that was engaging and social to boot.
man… bummer to hear about Foxy not being able to rock it. I had been thinking how awesome the lineup was for these shows. Looks like you had plenty of fun without ’em. and…Shorty’s is next door!