One brightly lit bonus of the cultural-attraction centrifuge gaining steam and selling seats at the intersection of the Central Business District, French Quarter, and whatever Whitey schemes for the old Lafitte housing project, the neon Joy Theater marquee steady boasts mid-week shows by nationally touring, buzzed-about bands.
Photo by Megan Casey.
Such offerings were slim pickings in New Orleans from roughly the mid-80s until the recent-vintage renaissance of historic venues in the city’s core. Catering to new New Orleans demographics and its newfound Whimsical Class’s seemingly infinite disposable income, the Joy has succeeded in establishing itself this scene’ epicenter as host to wild nights, community-minded events, and the illuminati’s cultural musings. Booked as is often the case by Winter Circle Productions, the Joy last night brought to town Beats Antique.
Formed in California’s Bay Area in 2007, the world-rhythm live-tronica group exploded with the 2013 release of A Thousand Faces: Act I. The high-voltage, high-concept live show inspired by that album soon found them darlings of the twirl-happy hippie-festival circuit as well as charmingly freaky stardust kids so enamored with Beats Antique and its immediately captivating sound and essence that a cult of personality seems to have formed to fit this mold. All these traits were on display at the Joy, which featured local talents and tasted of local flavors throughout a night as thrilling as it was uneven, as sonically and visually mesmerizing as it was self-aggrandizing to a near acquired-narcissism level of self-indulgence.
Still playing local bars for covers less than $10 (tickets for Thursday at the Joy $30 general admission, $45 VIP lower-balcony), the infectious, self-styled “Russian Mafia” members in Debauche are known for propelling the gutter-punk gypsy rages deep into the night at haunts such as Carrollton Station and Siberia. Though perhaps a bit swallowed up by the Joy’s stage, Debauche delivered bouncy punk melded with Eastern Europe for a solid, appreciated, though not rousing, 53-minute set, highlighted by the beatific grace of percussionist/dancer Kerry Lynn Sieff. Unrelenting in pace and energy, Debauche’s songs soared on harmonic vocal swells and the humor and persona of guitarist/singer Yegor Romansttrov, who peppered between tunes mumbles on Donal Trump, sad songs and even sadder songs and gypsy joints.
Mirroring a same-scene trend in hiring the stalwart players in Preservation Hall to Nola-fie a show in the city, Beats Antique billed the PH Horns as special guests. Yet, the driving sax-and-bone quintet of the Preservation Hall Horns didn’t appear on stage until the last song of the set. Remaining for a deep-wah thump of an encore, the horns lifted Beats Antique’s hip hop-infused grooves, as low-end deep as melodically complex, to a primal enlightenment that is the brand’s trademark.
(Note: Beats Antique touring player Sylvain Carton crushed on baritone sax and clarinet the whole time.)
Ending the encore nearly an hour before midnight, Beats Antique seemed to come up short in a show that danced to the edge of exciting only to idle past potential peaks. Still, a parade of dancers—burlesque sirens waxing about in giant white feathers, your buddy’s homegirls twerking dat azz to booming bounce on stage—and unquestionably brilliant arrangements made Beats Antique a good experience and good time. Married to violinist David Satori, drummer/dancer/ringleader Zoe Jakes’ talent and alluring alone are worth the price of admission.
But when you send us home with plenty of time to feed the Gremlins after a phone-flash frenzy in a group-photo finale that included a few more pleads by Satori to “maaaake some nooooisssssee,” even the biggest of sounds came somehow fall a bit flat.
