Listen, my familiarity with and consumption of radio pop music has only dramatically decreased with the invention of Spotify. The data-driven, algorithm-guided music streaming service has only given me more discriminatory means by which to pretentiously plant myself into my genres of preference. However, when given the chance to shoot my first show at the barely-year-old St. Louis Music Park, I’m not NOT going to say no. Which is how I found myself at the Fitz and the Tantrums show on August 14th.

Opener Andy Grammer more than got the crowd rowdy and ready for the main act. Grammer’s musical stylings venture into everything from pop to R&B to funk to hip-hop to spoken word and then sling them into a blender and put them on full blast to create an amalgamation that can most accurately be characterized by joy and fun. His upbeat and celebratory attitude was charming enough to dissolve my skepticism of his popular radio fare.

Andy Grammer

Honestly, it was hard for me to imagine how Fitz and the Tantrums were going to elevate the audience even higher after Grammer. And while the headliner brought just as much energy and enthusiasm as their opening act, the most significant thing that set them apart was their soulfulness and swagger. If Grammer wanted you to bop up and down, Michael Fitzpatrick, Noelle Scaggs, and Co. wanted you to GET DOWN, PERIOD. The heavier emphasis on soul in their songs unlocked and unleashed a subconscious smoothness that I didn’t realize I had. Watching Fitzpatrick and Scaggs sway on stage (a fitting description that matches the title of their latest single) without feeling the urge to gyrate in step with their siren-like melodies was nearly impossible. Needless to say, I walked away from their set feeling straight-up sexy.

Fitz and the Tantrums

Follow Andy Grammer at the following links:
Website, Instagram, Spotify, Youtube

Follow Fitz and the Tantrums at the following links:
Website, Instagram, Spotify, Youtube

Find more of me at the following links:
Instagram, Twitter