Music lovers in the Syracuse community gathered in Westcott Theater to hear an eclectic variety of music perform, Thursday.

The first act of the night was growing local band, The Easy, consisting of a keyboardist, guitarist, drummer and vocalist. Although the vocalist had a voice reminiscent of hip hop artist Chance the Rapper, mixed with the instrumentals, the group still gave off an alternative rock vibe, similar to that of Gym Class Heroes. Between original songs and covers including Mac Miller’s “Knock Knock” and Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend.” The pianist stood out as his fingers swiftly moved up and down the keyboard effortlessly.

Next on stage was Madaila, an indie band from Burlington, VT, dressed in matching white fitted suits with what looked like different colored tape strips in random lines scattered over their clothes.

The vocalist wore a pink headband and had a voice similar to that of MGMT, in the way it fluctuated from low to falsetto. The band differed from MGMT though, for instead of creating a psychedelic feel, the indie voice was backed up by rock n roll. It was apparent that Madalia loved to jam, although they may not be labeled as one of your typical “jam bands.”

Each song left room for instrumental solos during the songs, which at times became noisy and harsh, but in the best way possible. The band featured many songs from their second album, “Traces,” which was released just last week, and the album was on sale at Westcott throughout the show. Where the show got off to a slow start, people began emerging onto the dance floor once the front man said: “Don’t be shy to come up front and dance, we won’t bite.”

The crowd on the dance floor grew as the headliner of the night, The Hip Abduction, went on stage. Immediately, the crowd knew the performance was going to be a special one, as a saxophone, tambourine, conga and bongo drums and a kamala ngoni — an African harp-like instrument — was placed on stage. The band came out to what sounded like some sort of meditation recording, and with a palm tree backdrop and bright floral pattern on the drum set, the audience was prepared for a relaxed day at the beach.

From St. Petersburg, FL, that’s exactly what The Hip Abduction delivered. It is difficult to place just one genre on The Hip Abduction, and instead they are a combination of alternative, tropical, reggae, and southern rock mixed all together.

The group is even more of a jam band than Madaila and some of the songs they performed had no vocals at all. This caused a sense of irony when vocalist, David New, said “Ka’iwi” was his favorite song on their new album, because New does not sing at all in the song. Instead, the song unravels different layers of style and fluctuates the emphasis of different instruments, and watching New bang on the bongo drum with his bandmates, made the audience understand why this song is so fun for him.

Besides many originals, The Hip Abduction performed several cover songs as well, which really got the crowd dancing. Some favorites included “Thunder Clatter” by Wild Cub and “Sexual Healing” by Marvin Gaye.

Published on November 11, 2016 at 9:47 am

Contact: lmeyers@syr.edu