After a long absence from the venue, the herald has been drawn to the Biltmore Cabaret, where a longtime favorite celebrates their new single release. With the herald’s idleness of late, he is keen to return to his duties.
Arriving late, the herald enters the darkened dungeon that is the Biltmore, with the opening offering in full swing. With a large spot open up front, he makes his way there and begins service to Him.
DUSKNOTE
Due to lateness, I only caught half of their set in this second offering from them, with the first being a while back. This quartet dished out a steady groove of mellow rock that had no problem getting a little thick and chunky at times.
The vocals were strong and clean, with a smooth delivery that stayed in a range that gave us that sexy, chill vibe. There was good crowd engagement, and from what I did manage to catch from them, they were very comfortable up there.
The solid drums and bass give us a bitchin, kick-around pace. They’re so much fun to move to and still keep us in that groove pocket. With delicious distortion from the guitars, they were able to get crunchy, adding a little heavier element at times.
There was a really good-sized crowd to start the night, though little movement in there yet. With the line-up ahead, I am sure they will activate.
ZOEY LEVEN
A first-time offering from this quartet who has long evaded my radar. They dosed out an indie rock jam with lots of sexy grooves, all done at a steady pace in a fun chill pocket.
The band was tight, interesting, and fun. It was a vessel for the band’s namesake, who displayed great songwriting along with beautiful vocals. Clean and engaging, with a lot of passion evident, they were engaging and endearing, interacting well with the crowd.
Overall, I found the set to be beautiful and very conducive for getting my sexy flailing on. That groovy chill, while also interesting, never meandering or dull, was a blast to move to.
There was a little more engagement from this crowd as the front filled a little. A couple of fans were next to me, singing along and getting excited for certain songs. Great energy.
FELISHA & THE JAZZ REJECTS
With their fourth offering in a couple of months, this mainstay act did what they always do: get the crowd moving as they slay with their hard pop rock offering. It took a few songs, but once the instrumental banger hit, the crowd was all in.
The killer guitar and their beautiful solos bounce out and hit crystal clear. Such a delectable treat for the earholes. As part of the rejects, they are a tight trio of highly skilled musicians who are creative, always interesting, and so good at listening to each other, hitting all the marks.
With Felisha up front, oozing charm and charisma, and engaging the crowd incredibly effectively, this quartet has nailed its sound and feel, constantly unleashing a blast of a set to flail around to.
The set started with a good chunk of space up front. The crowd was still a little hesitant, allowing me a few songs to go full flail. As the set ramped up, more folks joined in until a good-sized group was going to town to this awesome offering.
BLEAKO’S NUCLEAR DISCO
Finally, it was the band that brought us all together to celebrate the release of their self-titled single, a song-long addition to their repertoire that finally gets the treatment it deserves.
Along with the three core members, the guitarist/singer from DUSKNOTE joined in, adding a killer layer of guitar, and sometimes bass, to the set. Rounding out the quintet was a keyboardist who jumped in on a few songs, allowing the lead singer to engage in their theatrics and engage the crowd.
They always have great crowd engagement, move everything along, and perform a finely choreographed set full of high energy and entertainment, which easily could have been one of their best offerings to date.
The drummer was on fire tonight, seemingly never stopping once as they put on a gorgeous clinic. They were creative, talented, and so much fun to watch smash those drums. They were playing stuff while the rest of the band was still tuning/setting up, which gave a great show prelude and filled the dead air.
The band was tight and polished, giving us all their quirky dance-rock goodness as the crowd woke up considerably on this one. They even got a mosh pit going, if only briefly. There were lots of engaged flailers up front grooving nicely.
While He was pleased with tonight’s offering, He was not yet satisfied, so my night ended with a non-stop ninety minutes of hit songs courtesy of the Fox Cabaret.