People flocked from all around, through the snow, to come to Zuzu last Monday night. In the warm, red lit room, three great bands gave those committed travelers a theatrical, well-played, show to remember.

Fungorum, the first group to perform, stepped on stage to deliver their first live performance. You never would’ve guessed that they weren’t seasoned performers from the way they played. The guitarists took turns tearing it up. I was fully impressed by the first guitarist in a song that sounded like blood curdling and good, hard, metal, and then the second guitarist took his turn and also just absolutely killed it. Garbed in black cloaks, the group delivered immense sound that reminded me of why monks call heavy metal “the devil in music,” and also made me want to (have to) bang my head. The drummer carried the beat extremely well, the entire band was in sync, and the lead singer had the voice of an angel. This was less apparent until their last song. Fungorum finished out their first show with a hauntingly beautiful song that began with mostly vocals and has remained in my mind for the past three days. The group’s vocalist sang in a way that was simultaneously sweet and cautionary, and then the group launched into a powerful metal song that carried out their first set quite well.

To hear the beginning of that song, check out the video below. To visit Fungorum’s bandcamp, click here.

Up next, The Hecks stepped up. A Chicago-based band, the group traveled a long distance to play Monday’s show. And they left nothing behind. The three piece sported a drummer, two guitarists/vocalists. They were an interesting group to watch perform; they switched between different sets of matching guitars, ducked and bobbed, and finally stepped into the light as their last song faded out. The entire group had an excited, energetic attitude throughout the coursing, quick pace of their songs. The audience became drunk on The Hecks infectious mood. I could hear praises of the band hanging on lips that were freshly reopened after cheering. Feet shuffled, heads nodded, and the warmth of the night spilled out on the street. Outside people smoked and cooled off and chatted. The Hecks created a great atmosphere with their performance.

Finally, Beach Toys took the stage. If you haven’t seen it already, check out my interview with them last week. Beach Toys are a dope Boston-based band that have a pretty solid following around town. Composed of Ian Doerr, Justin Lally, and Holden Lewis, the three-piece creates a huge sound that seems like it’d take many more people to make. A drummer, a bassist, and an organist. Beach Toys are one of the really exciting groups around town for me, and they recently dropped a new song on their bandcamp.

The headliner finished the night beautifully. They started out their show with a song called “Spook” in which the organ carried a truly spooky, nearly Halloween-y melody and the bass strummed along. The band kept it interesting song by song, and even brought out a brand new song during the show. The drummer, Justin, was especially interesting to watch. In what I’m pretty sure was an intentional performance, he jerked in one direction staring into space as he played one part, then jerked to another direction and stared some more as he played the next part. It was engaging, and silly, yet also impressive. The group was smooth, yet fun.

Props to these up and coming artists, and definitely check out these bands’ pages because they all have really neat sounds. To see a few more photos from the night, click >here< 

~<|:-3-<–<      (a stick person with feather in its cap and a mustache in case my stick art isn’t very good)