Foxy Band Songs

[Dannie Heinzen]

Soundslike? Combining soul and hardcore sounds like one of the most unlikeliest of successful sounds, but the self-proclaimed "Evel Knievel of Rock 'n' Roll," Foxy Shazam, delivers exactly that.

While it's no strange occurrence to hear piano accompany rock music, Foxy Shazam enlists a manic, jangled style of piano playing reminiscent of Queen. The band uses the instrument as a piece of rock equipment, not as a tool to deliver the cliched power ballad.

Foxy Shazam's initial sound proves elusive to label because, well, there is no initial sound. This band is all over the place, but in a good way. No songs sounds the same, and while it's clear the band contains a unique presence, it draws its sound from every sort of theatrical rock from the past 20 years and adds a dash of metallic hardcore into the mix. Then it becomes extremely hard to pinpoint the band's style.

But style isn't a thing these guys lack. Their confidence rings clear throughout every loud, audacious track and somehow avoids being perceived as cocky. Not to mention the fact that the band graciously avoids genre cliches. They don't implore the all-screaming verses or one-trick pony guitar solos all too rampant in hardcore music, nor do they try to sweetly croon slow tracks in an attempt to woo someone with trite ballad lyrics.

Eric Nally's vocals are particularly impressive. He can belt out soul-fueled verses with the best of them, then turn to a screaming rock fit on a dime. It's as if he took Andrew W.K.'s power metal vocals and infused them with Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance's theatrical, Queen-inspired showmanship.

Foxy Shazam serves as an exception to most bands in that it doesn't pause or slow down to highlight adventurous things in a "Hey! Look at me" manner. It simply does it. The band doesn't use gimmicks, nor does it want you to hear everything the first time. There's more than enough packed into each song to catch something new with each listen.

Certainly not a band for everyone, Foxy Shazam's invigorating sound will be sure to catch the ears of anyone looking for some new dynamic rock music that begs to be played as loudly as possible. Though a bit of a trek, Foxy Shazam is playing at The Soapbox Laundrolounge in Wilmington, N.C., on Sunday in support of its New Weatherman Records debut. If you're just looking to check out the band's music, head on over to www.myspace.com/foxyshazam to sample a handful of its tracks.

I talked to at least six different students at Madipalooza who only came to see Foxy Shazam and who all admitted that they definitely would not have gone to Madipalooza this year if they had not been playing.

Foxy Shazam has an intense style and stage presence. Their crazy antics kept the crowd screaming. From cartwheels, to crawling around, to throwing instruments up in the air, to a full handstand, the members of the band kept the audience entertained.

Lead singer Eric strutted across stage, using the whole space running around with lots of head banging. He made the crowd seethe with anticipation as he ended one of his songs by eating his four cigarettes.

Welcome to The Set List. Here you'll find the latest concert recaps for many of your favorite, or maybe not so favorite, artists. Our bloggers will do their best to provide you with every detail of the show, from which songs were on the set list to what the artist was wearing to which out-of-control fan made a scene. Hey, it'll be like you were there. And if you like what you read, we'll even let you know where you can catch the artist on tour. Feel free to drop us a comment and let us know your concert experience. Oh, and rock on.

This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly. Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system.

"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."

He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiance, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.

To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood."

The pandemic wreaked global havoc on many levels. Beyond the human toll, the disruptions brought on by the spread of COVID-19 caused deep and lasting damage to nearly every business sector, including live entertainment. Virtually overnight, workers lost their livelihoods, businesses closed their doors or drastically curtailed operations, and supply chains were hobbled.

With the return of live music has come a corresponding, pent-up surge in demand, notes Christy Castillo Butcher, Senior VP, Programming & Booking at the 70,000 seat SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. "To satiate that demand, you have to have a bigger venue."

Since the pandemic, some artists have taken different approaches to touring. Tandem tours and residencies are just two of the phenomena that seem to be increasing in popularity with touring artists and their management teams.

One of the highest-profile tandem tours of 2023 is the ZZ Top/Lynyrd Skynyrd Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour. Visiting more than 22 cities across the U.S, the tour brings together three-time GRAMMY nominees ZZ Top with the popular Southern rock band.

"You want to give the fans the value of seeing two bands together," says Ross Schilling, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Tour Manager. (Pollstar reported an average ticket price for the top 100 North American tours in the first half of 2022 at more than $108. Meanwhile, ticket prices for megastars such as Beyonc and Swift have reached astronomical levels.)

Schilling acknowledges that there are pros and cons for the artists as well. "You're sharing the expenses and the revenues," he notes, adding that the production is often halved. "Video, pyro, smoke, whatever kind of elements you want to add" can be shared on a tandem tour.

Another option experiencing a renaissance is the concert residency. "Residencies are not new, of course," says Phil Carson, a touring and management veteran who spent many years on the road with high-profile rock bands including Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, AC/DC and Yes. "They started with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. when there was really only one place to go: Las Vegas."

Celebrating and featuring a multigenerational lineup of Latinx artists and performers, the Bsame Mucho Festival premiered in December 2022 at the 56,000 capacity Dodger Stadium. Tickets sold out within 70 minutes. The lineup for the 2023 event was announced in February; once again, the event sold out almost immediately.

Ashley Capps has been wholly immersed in the festival scene; former head of AC Entertainment, for many years he oversaw the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. These days he has scaled back his activities but still curates the adventurous Big Ears Festival which he founded in 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Such across-the-board cost increases can mean that some international artists have to have tough conversations. If not through touring, Sampa the Great wonders, "How else do we connect with the people who support our music? And how else do we independent artists sustain our careers making music?"

That kind of thinking is widespread among the professionals who remain in the game post-COVID. From many working as venue owners to tour managers to crew to artists, the chance to get back on the road outweighs the challenges that they will inevitably encounter. There are many career paths easier than working in the live music industry, but few can compare with its rewards.

Before the pandemic, many touring artists arranged meet-and-greet sessions before or after their shows. They provided an opportunity for interaction between fans and artists, and represented an additional revenue stream for the artists. During the pandemic era, those sessions disappeared, even for the new shows that could still take place. Today, even while enforced social distancing has largely disappeared, the state of meet-and-greets is not what it was.

Others take a different approach. "Lynyrd Skynyrd will do meet-and-greets," says Schilling, adding that his team "wants to get back to as normal as we possibly can, as fast as we possibly can." Andr Cholmondeley is a musician, longtime tour manager and tech support professional who worked as guitar tech for Yes guitarist Steve Howe.

Before 2020, "if you bought the meet-and-greet package, you could shake their hands," he says. "There were lots of hugs and pictures." Now the experience involves more waving and fist-bumping. Foreigner, meanwhile, has recently swapped meet-and-greets for Q&A sessions. Everybody has a great time, and the band is not bored with it because it's different every night," says Phil Carson, the band's Tour Manager.

"One major change across the board is the huge difference in catering," says Cholmondeley, who has recently toured with Pat Metheny and Ani DiFranco. Before COVID, touring artists and their crews would typically find a buffet backstage. "We order a lot more food now," Cholmondeley explains. "You get a couple of menus texted to you each day."

Beginning in March 2020, the cancellations and disruptions brought upon by the pandemic reverberated throughout the live music industry. But as the business sector enters the third quarter of 2023, the focus is once again on the future, and guarded optimism is the prevailing perspective.

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