Eggy Goes Reelin’ In The Years With Cover Heavy Purim Party At Brooklyn Bowl

A long-standing tradition in the music world (though very present in the jam scene) is celebrating holidays like Halloween or New Year’s Eve with a special themed concert. Eggy opened the next chapter of this on Saturday night as they celebrated the Jewish holiday of Purim with a sold-out Brooklyn Bowl show.

In the simplest explanation, Purim is a celebration of the Jewish people’s avoidance of being killed in Persia thousands of years ago, and usually involves wearing costumes – hence the Halloween-like theme Eggy chose, “Reelin’ In The Years.”

With previously announced collaborations with The Funky Dawgz Horns and the incredible tour the quartet has been on recently, tickets were difficult to find on the day of show despite the pouring rain that may have dissuaded some from attending – it was clear that Purim was going to be a can’t-miss event. In addition, Eggy’s winter tour has caused some buzz in the community with standout jams happening almost every night as their incredible group improvisation matures and gets better.

The Bowl was absolutely packed by the time Eggy took the stage just after 9 p.m. for the first set, launching into “Shadow.” “Apology” led into “Zugzwang” next, continuing the trend of well-played originals. We were treated to a nice improvisational excursion in the latter, with some great full-bank funk that led to a solid peak atop guitarist Jake Brownstein’s soaring leads.

The recently-debuted “Atomic Age” reappeared for its second performance in as many shows, getting the audience grooving to the moody vibe and catchy lyrics. “Rosetta Stone,” “What I Know,” and “You” went on to close out the first frame.

When the band re-emerged for the second set, they had donned costumes according to the decade-retrospective theme – bassist Mike Goodman representing the ‘50s, keyboardist Dani Battat the ‘70s, Brownstein the ‘80s, and drummer Alex Bailey the ‘90s. Goodman fronted the band on the first of many cover debuts, The Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Displaying their impeccable talent for vocal harmonies on the hit song, the energy in the room immediately skyrocketed at the caliber of the cover.

Next up was the debut of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows,” a song covered frequently by other jam bands that had yet to make its way into an Eggy setlist. The song suits the quartet’s very democratic sound well, with each instrument blending into the hazy psychedelia necessary for the cover, led by Battat’s strong vocals and layers of synthesizers. As the jam progressed, propelled by Bailey’s fluid performance of the signature drumbeat, Battat weaved haunting and spacey lines on his Minimoog Model D as they locked in on the extended jam.

Emerging from the darker tone of “TMK,” we were treated to the upbeat “Mr. Blue Sky” as the Bowl’s signature disco ball threw patterns over every corner of the room. Next up, Eggy welcomed The Funky Dawgz to the stage to add horns to original “Sweaters For Strawmen.” Vocalist Sammi Garett of Cool Cool Cool came out next to front the expanded band on Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out,” sporting a huge smile and adding her bubbly energy to the already joyous vibe of the costume set.

A horn-augmented “Laurel” led to the amazing debut of Radiohead’s “Subterranean Homesick Alien,” an ambitious cover that was a great and unique choice to add to Eggy’s diverse and wide-ranging arsenal. The set then closed with “Golden Gate Dancer,” after which Brownstein and Battat remarked that the last time they had played the song with horns was when they were in high school – a very different experience than a sold-out Brooklyn Bowl.

Returning for the encore and thanking the crowd for joining them for their first Purim celebration, Garett and The Funky Dawgz joined Eggy on an appropriate “Reelin’ in the Years,” before “Smile” ended the night.

With their momentum continuing to grow, don’t miss your opportunity to see Eggy in the small venues they’re playing this spring and summer – it won’t be long before they’re leveling up to bigger rooms. They’ve made their mark on the scene with this Purim debut and I do not doubt that next year’s will be bigger and even more exciting.

Thank you, Eggy – and Chag Sameach to all!

Audio (Taped by Bootsy Jacobs)

Setlist (via The Carton)

Set One: Shadow, Apology > Zugzwang, Atomic Age, Rosetta Stone, What I Know, You

Set Two: Jumpin’ Jack Flash[1], Tomorrow Never Knows[2] > Mr. Blue Sky[3], Sweaters for Strawmen[4], I’m Coming Out[5], Laurel[4], Subterranean Homesick Alien[6], Golden Gate Dancer[4]

Encore: Reelin’ In The Years[7], Smile[4]

Notes:

• [1] FTP, The Rolling Stones
• [2] FTP, The Beatles
• [3] FTP, Electric Light Orchestra
• [4] With The Funky Dawgz Horns
• [5] FTP, Diana Ross, with Sammi Garett on vocals and The Funky Dawgz Horns
• [6] FTP, Radiohead, with The Funky Dawgz Horns
• [7] FTP, Steely Dan, with Sammi Garett on vocals
• The band came out for the second set dressed in decade-wear: Mike (‘50s), Alex (‘90s), Jake (‘80s) and Dani (‘70s).