Show Review - Eggy 4/10/25 Wilmington, NC
Dreamy Side of the Moon
Eggy tour continued to Wilmington last night, where the quartet laid down an absolutely blazing show in an unlikely venue for an audience that, for the second night in a row, felt completely locked in to the music from beginning to end. With a small stage in the open taproom vibe of Bowstring, the vibe felt impossibly intimate for a band of this caliber, leading to a special show in many ways.
Beginning with “Last of Kin,” the band eased things in as they are wont to do with the song’s first appearance of 2025, pairing it with a nice “You” that the band weaved nicely into “Sugar Sleuth.” Vocal harmonies on full power, Eggy moved into “Waiting Game” and then “Bobcat Flow” to deliver our first jam of the night.
Working some slick funk grooves after an initial guitar-led peak, guitarist Jake Brownstein hinted at some “They Love Each Other”-like licks for the first of several times, using that motif as a springboard to build a powerful jam propelled by drummer Alex Bailey’s hi-hat work.
Smoothly modulating up into a new major key, keyboardist Dani Battat took the lead on Moog synth, twining along Brownstein’s leads with some angular sounds as the smooth improv took on a rocking quality akin to “Trixieville.” Battat continued his Moog crusade to add psychedelia to the otherwise straightforward music, closing the “Waiting Game” sandwich with a strong finish.
The band welcomed young guitarist Jones Todd up to the stage next, who augmented “Ricky Gervais” with some absolutely incredible playing, his lightning-fast runs perfectly complementing Brownstein’s more laid-back melodic-driven style. Todd took an early solo on a vicious synth-filter effect ahead of a Goodman bass solo, the latter then stepping behind his amp to let the two guitarists duke it out at the front of the stage for an extended section.
Using heavy delay at first, the two musicians toyed with several different melodic themes before a final double-time ramp up initiated by Todd that had the whole band on a tear through the final peak – Brownstein took a moment to express his delight at getting to play with Todd and that we were all witnessing a “I saw him when…” moment – his musical instincts are absolutely impeccable, because sitting in with Eggy and taking on a leadership role in one of their jams is no mean feat!
To close the first set, the band was fired up and delivered an absolutely astounding version of Elton John’s “Bad Side of the Moon,” beginning with a slightly extended intro. This song is one of my favourite covers in the Eggy catalog and I was ecstatic to get such a well-jammed version last night.
The improv began in a calm major-key space, bassist Mike Goodman anchoring things while Battat and Brownstein probed through the air, a soft bed of piano bringing things down to an even quieter space as Brownstein found his way into a beautiful three-chord progression.
In no hurry at all, the other members of the band patiently began to add their own take on the theme, developing it into a jaw-dropping build that began with some really amazing dynamic play from Bailey, his ebb and flow with varied intensities giving the music a quality not unlike waves hitting a beach.
Indeed, it was the sunny, beachfront imagery that came to mind as Eggy locked in on a sustained set-closing peak that produced an absolutely incredible outpouring of pure joy in musical form. The room was filled with ear-to-ear smiles as the band executed a flawless return to the end of “Bad
Side” and they walked off stage with anticipation sky-high for the next frame.
“Queen’s Gambit” opened the second set and picked up right where the first left off, departing from the energetic bounce of the song proper into a clav-funk groove. Battat infused some delay into his work early on, the rest of the band locking in on a repeated motif that was enhanced by some slick bass fills from Goodman.
Expanding from there, Goodman stepped forward with some powerful riffs as Brownstein infused his hypnotic play with subtle Chase Bliss Mood, the computerized chirps swirling in the background. Bailey’s fluid play eventually landed on a firm pocket as Battat and Goodman gave Brownstein a bit of time to fill the melodic space on his own before re-entering with shimmering electric piano chords to lift us into a beautiful bright space.
Gradually ramping up, Battat began to hit the Moog again and used his impressive instincts on the mod wheel to control just the right amount of vibrato in the searing tones, taking some high-register lead space while Brownstein focused on swirling delays lower down on the neck.
In the midst of this zone, the band cleanly executed a bright modulation to unlock the next layer, a full-bodied peak covered in a cacophony of sounds that blended together for a wild boil before disintengrating almost on a dime to resolve back into “Queen’s Gambit” after a few seconds of space.
Raging a few more minutes of Type I soloing, the band next called for jam staple “Finding and Losing,” the slinky funk getting everyone dancing before another amazing and efficient jam. Goodman’s propulsive bass runs dominated the early part as Brownstein dialled in a fuzzed-out tone for the show’s first real dose of dark jamming.
Hammering into a thumping beat, Battat used some distortion on Moog before taking the lead on the instrument once again, searing run after run overtop Brownstein, Goodman, and Bailey’s pounding riff.
This motif was powerful in all the right ways, and the band soon moved past into a calmer and more psychedelic zone, Battat dropping away the synth gradually with a volume swell that made the fluid transition feel incredibly natural.
With keyboards returning to textural work, Brownstein took the lead on a low-key section for a bit before augmenting his tone once again with some wild synth effects. The rest of the band kept things grounded in a major key underneath him, leading to a wild juxtaposition as, similar to the first set’s “Bad Side,” Eggy found themselves delivering an absolutely perfectly layered jam, all backlit by Mike Jaws’ lighting textures to elevate it further.
Modulating up a key, the band built the spacey soup into a brief peak section before dropping into “Let’s Dance,” much to the delight of the crowd. This was far from your standard disco cover as the band built several strong tension-filled peaks with more standout Moog work from Battat, Brownstein at the helm through the high-energy jam as he does so well, infusing some slick “12 Pounds of Pain” teases in at the apex.
“Sweat Equity” was called next to keep the dance vibes going and wound up in some great start/stop funk, eventually winding up in a reprise of “Let’s Dance” and then a wild drum solo around the “Finding and Losing” riff.
Realizing that they had several loose ends to tie up, the band threw in the ending of the first set’s “Bobcat Flow” complete with teases of “Shatter” and “You,” plus another beautiful and extended guitar-led peak.
It was all gravy at this point, and Battat’s clav-wild finale to “Finding and Losing” which saw him pick up his Nord keyboard and frantically mash the keys was a fantastic spectacle to close the second set.
A choice “Sussudio” with lots of extra mustard brought the night to a close with a singalong, finishing out one of the best front-to-back Eggy concerts I’ve had the pleasure of being in attendance for. The band closes out this leg in NC and TN this weekend and will continue to build on the momentum of the Here and How Tour – setlists are fresh, the jams are flowing, and everyone should be keeping a close eye on where this band is headed!
