Fitz & the Tantrums at The Riviera. 11.22.14

I am so happy that I get to write about Fitz & the Tantrums, I've been wanting to see them for awhile and every time they came to Chicago something else came up so finally see them live was something I have been looking forward to. They are such an energetic band and put on an incredible show! The band originated in LA and has 6 members, all of them are fantastic musicians. The lead singer is Michael Fitzpatrick (Fitz), singer Noelle Scaggs (lead singer of the soul-band The Rebirth, incredible voice), Joe Karnes on bass, James King (AMAZING saxophone, flute and keyboard player),  keyboard player Jeremy Ruzumna and drummer John Wicks. I honestly love all of their songs and was very happy with the set list from this show! They performed a mix of songs from their first album Pickin' up the Pieces and their newest album More Than Just A Dream. Fan favorites include The Walker, Out of my League, Moneygrabber, and their new single Fool's Gold. This show was at the Riv, which was awesome because it's a great venue. I chose to sit in the balcony for this show and it ended up being the best choice even though the TALLEST woman I have ever seen ended up sitting in front of me.....I've said it before many times in previous posts and unfortunately this show wasn't any different. Even when I'm sitting in the balcony the tallest person in the planet sits in front of me. Every. Single. Time. Not to mention, she was with a group of equally annoying people that were literally looked like they stepped out of the 1950's. Anyways, other than being slightly annoyed at them the concert itself was everything I thought it would be. The opening band, Big Data, was just okay in my opinion. I'm not too familiar with their music but they do have a song out called Dangerous that has been featured lately in TV shows and played frequently on the radio. I never usually like the opening act at any show, so it wasn't surprising that I wasn't blown away by them but I could see them becoming fairly popular. Fitz and the Tantrums had a really cool setup and the effects were outstanding. There's a heart that is on the cover of More than Just a Dream that they use for their live shows and during the show they had one that lit up differently with each song. So cool! Also, they gave everyone free bracelets that light up every time you clap, so naturally I took 8 of them (shhhhh). I thought this was an amazing concept and if I were ever in a band I would definitely give everyone bracelets like that! If you enjoy upbeat, groovy music you've gotta put Fitz and the Tantrums on your must-see concert list.  I've honestly never seen a band with so much energy! I know I'll be seeing them again because they come to Chicago all the time and I really enjoyed their show. I hope you enjoy my song clips! I have additional videos on my Youtube channel so if you'd like to see more, check it out! The next show I'll be posting on is coming up in February and I'll be seeing one of my favorite British artists, Ben Howard, at the Vic. Until next time!

(As you can see, the annoying woman in front of me wouldn't stop waving her hand around so I was trying to film around it...)