Foxy Shazam has a new album called GONZO and they really really want you to hear it … so much so that they released it back in April as a free download. Now they’re taking the show on the road. “The Gonzo Tour” hit Slim’s in San Francisco on Friday night along with tour mates Stop Light Observations and local openers Mystic Knights of the Cobra for a packed show.
When a band is touring in support of a new record, you always expect to hear some new material. Well, Foxy Shazam chose to take things a bit further by dedicating the first half of their set to playing the entire GONZO album from start to finish. The album is notable for being recorded live in the studio and it was clear from their performance that live is how it is meant to be heard. Funky, soulful, quirky, and sometimes just weird, the new material provided the perfect fodder for front man Eric Nally and the band’s shenanigans.
Given that the album was offered as a free download, you would think that the gathered die-hards would have availed themselves of the new material; the crowd remained attentive but relatively sedate as Foxy Shazam tore through the new songs, only stopping (twice) to address a heckler who apparently wasn’t satisfied with what he was hearing.
After wrapping up the GONZO material, the band took a short break before returning to the stage for what was more of a second act than an encore. Nally kicked things off with a forward-tumble onto the stage as the band launched into Bombs Away. This was the moment that the crowd had been patiently waiting for and the energy-level in the room skyrocketed.
Not that it ever felt like they were ever holding back, but with GONZO behind them, Foxy Shazam appeared more-than-ready to move on to other areas of their catalog. There were no further complaints from the room as they rolled through Oh Lord, Holy Touch and I Like It. As the crowd got nuttier and nuttier, the band appeared to loosen as they upped their on-stage antics through which the Foxy-isms started flowing from Nally (“If murder was legal, I’d be dead now”).
The set peaked with a truly Foxy-ized version of Green Day’s Longview before wrapping up with an ironically positioned Unstoppable. Never a band to follow the rules, with GONZO Foxy Shazam has once again proven that they are indeed unstoppable.
Gonzo Setlist:
- Gonzo
- Poem Pathetic
- Brutal Truth
- Tragic Thrill
- Have the Fun
- Shoe Box
- Don’t Give In
- In This Life
- Story Told
Second Act Setlist:
- Bombs Away
- Oh Lord
- Holy Touch
- Yes! Yes! Yes!
- Killin’ It
- The Temple
- I Like It
- Evil Thoughts
- With An Axe
- Longview (Green Day cover)
- Unstoppable
Supporting acts: Stop Light Observations, Mystic Knights of the Cobra
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