Foxy Shazam closed the first half of its Hidden Treasure Tour in Nashville with a weird, quirky, and nothing short of a fantastic show.
The hard rock got ramped up early when Jigsaw Youth took the stage. The New York trio had a sound that almost blended alternative rock and thrash metal – think the vocals of Alice In Chains with a little more screaming, but with the instrumentals sped up to meet Anthrax. The small Nashville crowd that did make it early seemed to enjoy the group.
While the size of the audience was large, it was clear that Jigsaw Youth was just happy to be on stage and performing. “Sometimes, I zone out when I’m playing,” said bassist and lead singer Maria Alvarez. “Then it hits me, holy s**t! I’m in Tennessee playing in front of this crowd. I’m a long way from home.”
Eight years removed from Foxy Shazam taking a hiatus, the band was back in Nashville up to their old tricks. The trip to Music City was long overdue as Foxy initially had announced a reunion in 2020, only to be sidelined due to the ongoing global pandemic. In late 2021, the band played its first handful of shows since taking a break, only to continue adding dates in 2022.Though time has passed, Foxy Shazam still delivers a lively, fun show that will have the audience asking what they just watched. In some ways, Foxy Shazam provides a performance that would make the Ringling Brothers proud. Here’s just a shortlist of things that were seen on stage: a guitarist balancing his instrument with just his chin, lead singer Eric Nally smoking five cigarettes at once and then later eating one, and a weird chant that saw the members of Jigsaw Youth return to the stage, with some Foxy members who were acting like a heard of animals.
While bizarre, that quirkiness is exactly what the Nashville crowd was anticipating and the audience applauded loudly throughout the group’s 19-song performance. Foxy Shazam also did a tremendous job of incorporating the audience into the show. There were several moments when keyboardist Schulyer White dove into the crowd with his instrument. The Music City patrons held him up while several others made sure to get their phones out to record the moment.
There was another moment during the performance where Nally jokingly stated, “I know I look a little goofy doing this.” Without hesitancy, an audience member spoke up, stating that he had looked goofy the entire night. Nally chuckled before agreeing and saying, “That’s what’s up.” Nally never stayed still for more than 15 seconds throughout his time on stage, as he bounced around the stage, dropping to his knees quite often while also performing an abundance of cartwheels. While unorthodox, it was charismatic and simply fun to see that playfulness and silliness.
While the only listed dates Foxy Shazam has are a pair of festival dates, Nally made sure to point out that this is just the first half of the tour run for the group. While the second portion of dates has yet to be unveiled, the Nashville crowd on hand will certainly be hoping that the group brings its wacky and zany tour back to Music City sometime soon.
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