Emily Hingle

Andy Frasco Wreaks Havoc At House of Blues

15:31 October 15, 2021
By: Emily Hingle

How do you describe what a wave looks like when it's rolling? Or an avalanche as it falls? How do you describe what an Andy Frasco show is like, which I'm going to attempt to do now? Describing his music is just one part of it. This five-piece band is really about movement. Moving on stage in crazy, spasmodic ways to make you, the audience member, move your body and hopefully your soul to a higher place.

Andy Frasco donned an LSU basketball jersey instead of a Lakers jersey, which was immediately applauded, as he bounded on the stage along with his equally energetic band. He pounded on the organ set in the middle of the stage like a wild man. He eventually would stand on it, dance on it, pour booze on it, and jump off of it. The speaker stacks on either side of the stage also became a playground for Andy and his bassist Kyle Travers. Kyle also used the organ to lean and lay on when he was really into it. It was like he needed it to stay standing up because the playing was taking so much out of him.

Andy and his band absolutely blazed through their original works, which were occasionally broken up with mash-ups. The show started with a really raunchy 1970s funk with spicy saxophone added by Ernie Chang and cop show guitar riffs by Shawn Eckels. There was a ton of room left for everyone to have a solo seemingly during each song. Everything was so chaotic you couldn't really tell when one song ended and another began, unless Andy stopped performing to take a drink of Jameson or hit a joint handed to him by an audience member. Being a fan of much older music, I really appreciated the cover of "634-5789," which was sung by the drummer Andee Avila who had an AMAZING voice.

As the band stomped, swirled, and rammed through the set, the crowd was so astonished that they weren't even sure what to make of it. At times, Andy was just vibrating like he was being possessed by the intense groove.

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