The following article was submitted by Julianne Thompson:

A night after the surprise Kanye West performance on Tuesday, Bowery Ballroom welcomed a night of random rock with Free Energy and Foxy Shazam.

A Foxy Shazam show is equivalent to having ADHD and drinking multiple Four Lokos on an empty stomach. Frontman Eric Nally and company create a manic, disorienting experience that cannot possibly be imitated by another six piece band. On an “off” night, one can find Nally, Alex Nauth on trumpet and pianist Sky White jumping on top and off of instruments and any accessible high places. Bassist Daisy and guitarist Loren Turner can be seen throwing their wild curly lion manes around to create a blur of hair with drummer Aaron McVeigh somewhat calmly (in comparison to all other actions on stage) in the background holding steady the necessary rhythms to induce the crazy visual and sonic spectacle. The smoking of approximately five cigarettes at once by the band’s frontman dropped the jaws of Foxy show virgins and made the veterans grow into a frenzy. The antics on stage had all in the crowd jumping and moving their heads left to right, up then down, and in all other possible directions, providing all in attendance a sensory overload.

Foxy Shazam’s sound consists of glam rock mixed in with a healthy dose of soul, filled with theatrical elements suited for a future rock opera. The majority of the band’s set were songs from their latest self-titled album with crowd-pleasers such as “Unstoppable”, “Oh Lord”, and “The Only Way to My Heart…”, and for longtime Foxy followers, the old fan favorite “Rocketeer”. The band’s music has the possibility of being loved by many and hated by others; despite this, all those who appreciate the experience of live performance should make attending a Foxy Shazam show mandatory. Unfortunately, the crowd’s unanimous demand for an encore to prolong this experience was denied in order to give Free Energy the stage in a timely manner.

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It is both brave and somewhat ludicrous to willingly follow Foxy Shazam, but this is exactly what the night’s headliners Free Energy did. Free Energy is a peppy pop rock band full of happiness, chin-lengthed hair and, well, energy. Lead singer Paul Sprangers seemed to send that free energy to the audience in an unexpected way: by pointing.

The multiple points by Sprangers proved powerful and gained the attention of those who were ready to leave after Foxy Shazam’s set. The use of various types of pointing and strong but friendly eye contact from the singer created an unexpected audience connection that resulted in the crowd pointing back at Sprangers in approval. A strange form of stage presence from him held a considerable amount of the crowd captive until the end of their set.

An obvious crowd favorite of the night turned out to be “Bang Pop.” The song ,consisting of “Wild Things” chordal progressions and easy lyrics, activated joyous spastic dancing and a new variation of pointing that was somehow combined with fist pumping.  The familiar chords of “Bang Pop” even made one of the Bowery bouncers whip out his own personal tambourine hid behind the stage curtain and have his own interpretative performance of the song at his post. This song seemed to release Free Energy’s free energy into the air that the audience ingested willingly, proving it to be a positive turning point in their initially satisfactory yet underwhelming set. Sprangers took advantage of the crowd’s change of energy and went immediately into the remaining songs of their set. He even had an impromptu Q &A session with the audience, which increased the band’s likability even more.

Surveying the crowd, more came for Foxy Shazam than even Free Energy.  Foxy Shazam ended up stealing the crowd and the night. However, both bands delivered extremely different but enjoyable performances that had the underage adult audience jumping, shaking, and pointing manically for three hours.