Show Review - Eggy 4/9/25 Raleigh, NC

All Of These Lights

Eggy’s Here and How tour arrived in North Carolina last night for the first of four shows in the Tarheel State, taking over Raleigh’s Lincoln Theatre for a blazing show that matched the crowd’s raucous energy for a Wednesday night.

The band took the stage to a brief foray into some droning space before lighting into “Laurel,” warming things up with the staple from Waiting Game. New lighting director Mike Jaws made his presence known from the first minute of the show – it’s an absolutely massive addition to Eggy to have a talented LD who knows the music, and each peak and valley was accentuated by accompanying dazzles.

“Solid Ground” added some disco vibes, keyboardist Dani Battat taking a space-age Moog synthesizer solo while guitarist Jake Brownstein utilized some computerized delay sounds underneath. “Broken Bluff,” “Come Up Slow,” and “Gentle Clown” rounded out the first part of the opening frame with solid performances, the quartet displaying their rock-solid vocal harmonies and melodic hooks, “Come Up Slow” in particular driving to a beautiful crescendo atop Brownstein’s insistent playing.

Things began to open up with Kacey Musgraves’ “Oh, What A World,” the crowd-favourite cover making its third appearance of 2025 ahead of “Woah There,” our first proper dose of extended jamming. Beginning in a bouncy funk space, Battat hit into some Wurlitzer chords over the pulsating synth drone, drummer Alex Bailey locking in with bassist Mike Goodman on some tight funk. Brownstein brought in his signature wild Chase Bliss MOOD delay sounds to swirl as the band made a collective major-key pivot into some uncharted territory.

Battat began to sweep wavering lines of Moog across the space as Eggy moved as one unit into an almost “Paradise City”-esque progression, building to an incredible peak thanks to Brownstein’s huge waves of guitar and the gliding Moog. Reaching the apex and landing perfectly back into the ending of “Woah There,” this jam marked the moment that it felt as though the Raleigh crowd fully locked in with the band, and was at a high level of energy and attention for the remainder of the show.

Staple “Burritos El Chavo 2” brought the first set to a close with another impressive bout of improv, Brownstein twirling tension builds together with some smooth work as Bailey went absolutely nuts on his kit. After the first round of peaks, the band kicked into a double-time zone with Goodman really emphasizing some unsettling riffs as Battat’s soaring organ gave us an excellent contrast to the minor key undertones.

Not content to leave things there, the band dropped from a peak into a low-key space, Battat utilizing his Moog’s filter and delay for some haunting effects as Brownstein dialled in synthesizer sounds of his own, swirling in a beautiful and patient space as Goodman probed underneath.

Fully realizing the motif from there, Eggy went full outer-space mode, growling tones drenched in delay shooting across the theatre as Battat switched into his signature electric piano effect, Bailey leading a ramp-up in energy for a more tribal vibe as opposed to space. With Battat gradually turning down the effects, the band amped up the pressure as the next peak began to approach, Brownstein unleashing repetitive and hypnotic riffs as he combined different synth and octave effects to bring the jam to a boil, exploding not into another peak but a perfectly-executed return to the ending of “Burritos” and the set.

Set two kicked off with the first part of an extended “Trixieville” sandwich, the rocking 2025 debut comfortably in that role after several other split versions earlier this year. A patient build ensued up to an absolutely staggering peak, Brownstein’s reverb-drenched leads supported well by Battat’s aggressive piano work and Goodman’s lightning-fast runs. Dropping back into soupy space, Brownstein went whammy and Battat reintroduced droning Moog for an all-too-brief collapse into a droning space that resolved into the opening of “Must Come Down.”

Smooth segues ensued from there into the recently disco-fied “Razi” (complete with Bailey using some wild delay and filter effects on his drums) and then Radiohead’s “Subterranean Homesick Alien,” the haunting vibe of the tune perfectly suited to Eggy’s various textures and synthesizers. Jumping headlong back into a pounding and layered zone, Bailey going nuts as Battat’s newly-discovered method of ripping Moog lines brought things to a powerful climax.

Dropping back into disco mode from there, the band amped up the tempo as Brownstein went full MOOD, getting into some angular and crazy sounds for an extended stay as the rest of the band drove alongside him, eventually crashing back into a more typical energetic peak.

Cooling things down next with “Watercolor Days,” the title track from Eggy’s 2019 studio release saw the band drop down to near silence, circling each other with bass, guitar, drums, and melodic cowbell for a spell in a way that this band excels at, each of the four musicians listening intently through this section. Launching full-force back into the jam from there, Battat took on an exuberant organ solo before the band blazed through both the endings of “Subterranean” and “Trixieville.”

At just around an hour, the set could have reached a nice conclusion there with the bookended song, but Eggy opted for one more tune in “Wayless” that developed into possibly the improvisational highlight of the night. With the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand, the quartet dropped into a punishing and heavy jam, utilizing a repeated riff to really get a frenzy going.

Brownstein’s tone was absolute perfection all night, and the gritty-yet-articulate quality of his chords shone brightly through the mix as Battat took a lead role on some wild fuzzed-out Moog riffs overtop the rhythm section’s pounding beat.

One of the coolest things about Brownstein’s style is that while he sticks to a textural role a lot of the time, when he does let loose into rock-god mode, the impact is all the greater – and the moment where he bursts forth into the final section of the “Wayless” jam was nothing short of mind-blowing, eliciting several shouts of joy from the audience. Battat matched him in energy on Moog, building wave after wave of darkness before finally exploding back into the song proper with huge smiles and a final burst of energy to bring the second set to an end.

Brownstein thanked the crowd and noted that the band feels a special energy in NC before the positive message of the “Here and Now” encore sent us off into the night. The sentiment outside the venue post-show was lots of blown minds, many fans relatively unfamiliar with the band eager for another show as soon as possible after such a barn-burner.

Tour continues tonight in Wilmington with a band firing on all cylinders for the second of five nights in a row – there will be a livestream on the band’s YouTube channel if the internet is strong enough and I could not recommend tuning in enough.

I’m also super excited to have filmed a drum rig tour with Alex - stay tuned for it coming soon!