Fresh off Bruno Mars tour, Leno and Conan, Fitz & the Tantrums make local stop
The Bright Futures Tour
Fitz & the Tantrums
with Capital Cities /Beat Club
Tuesday, October 29, 6:30 p.m.
Upstate Concert Hall
1208 New York 146, Clifton Park
(518) 371-0012
CLIFTON PARK — Call this the no-brainer pick of the week, kids.
Generally, when deciding what to feature in Pulse each issue, I usually employ a complicated algorithm that balances demographic information, geography, genre, art form and timing.
Other times, I go with the “If it’s good enough for Jay and Conan (let alone profiles in those niche publications The New York Times and Esquire), it’s good enough for me” rule.
Fresh off appearances on those two late-nighters, as well as the nation’s largest ballrooms and venues, the Bright Futures Tour blasts into Upstate Concert Hall next Tuesday. Headlining the show is LA-based Electra recording artists Fitz & the Tantrums. The sextet, which was on the last Bruno Mars tour, is now leading a cavalcade which includes Capital Cities and Beat Club through the U.S.
They are touring in support of their second album (first on Electra) called More Than Just A Dream. Contained within that is the mega-modern rock smash Out of My League, a single which was designated a “Best of the Week” by USA Today, noting the song as “a colorfully catchy piece of 80s-inspired soul-pop”.
Often, I grow leery of bands that cross, or in some cases mash-up genres as just a transparent attempt to widen their appeal but end up diluting their final product and satisfying no one. Yet throughout, More Than Just A Dream is distinctive for its brazen with verve and vivacity, demonstrating all the drama and passion of the band’s famed live shows.
Those shows are distinguished by charged back-and-forth action between co-lead vocalists Fitz and Noelle Scaggs, backed by power of The Tantrums in full flight. More Than Just A Dream is the sound of a great band taking it right to the edge.
Capital Cities has accumulated several international festival credits. Their debut full-length release, In a Tidal Wave of Mystery in June of this year was on Capitol Records/Lazy Hooks label.
Prior to the show Tuesday at Upstate Concert Hall, Fitz & the Tantrums will be appearing on the CBS Morning Show (check local listings) on Saturday, October 26. That ought to wake up several neighborhoods from coast to coast.
