Show Review - Eggy & Dogs in a Pile 11/29/24 Port Chester, NY

When Black Friday Comes

Eggy and Dogs in a Pile took over the legendary Capitol Theatre last night for the first of two co-headlining gigs, celebrating a family-style continuation to Thanksgiving weekend with a memorable nearly four-hour show.

Both bands have long histories, having headlined the smaller Garcia’s as well as performed on the main stage as opening acts – but this came as the headlining debut for both Eggy and Dogs, marking one of each band’s largest headlining shows to date as both come off their respective fall tours.

After a coin-flip video by impresario Peter Shapiro was posted to social media earlier in the week, it was decided that Eggy would headline the first night and Dogs the second.

The New Jersey quintet opened their set with a rollicking “Look Johnny II,” guitarists Jimmy Law and Brian Murray trading incendiary licks before handing things over to keyboardist Jeremy Kaplan for a turn on the organ.

Next up, the band took “Nicolette” for an extended spin, quieting into some exploratory territory thanks to some thick electric piano work from Kaplan amid drummer Joe Babick’s switch to a more sparse beat. From there, the band entered an early-70s Grateful Dead-style jazzy space, this parallel accentuated by Law’s use of distorted MuTron playing amid Kaplan’s whirlwind runs on the keys.

The bluesy “Apeman” led into “Today,” breaking for some more jazzy play as Law returned to the Garcia style, a funny comparison to make given his use of a Languedoc guitar.

A quick breather in “Ugly Song” picked the energy back up with a call for “G Song,” Kaplan taking charge early on in the jam with some beautiful Rhodes work, utilizing a slow phaser effect as the soft bed of electric piano filled the venue. Bassist Sam Lucid made his presence known as the improv progressed with some high-register fills, supporting Law’s leads along with more jazz infusions courtesy of Murray on rhythm work.

Smoothly transitioning to a brighter major-key space, Dogs built an excellent peak before patiently segueing into “Linus and Lucy.” Far from your standard performance of the holiday instrumental, Kaplan stuck out on funky piano work through the extended take on the Vince Guaraldi classic.

“Lazy Susan” featured some more great guitar work from Law ahead of a vicious take on “Look Johnny” with Kaplan uncorking some filthy clav licks. Babick led the way into this jam, which quickly picked up intensity into a guitar-forward peak. Finishing up their set with “Bubble,” Dogs finished the 90-minute set on a high note before it became time for Eggy to play.

After a year heavy on festival dates, the Connecticut quartet has nearly perfected the flow of a one-set show, and last night packed a mind-blowing amount of deep musical exploration within 90 minutes. While many fall dates have shown the band going heavy on material from their latest album Waiting Game in lieu of larger quantities of jamming, they knew that last night’s crowd was more than familiar and delivered us the goods.

Getting things going with a duo of “Here and Now” and “A Moment’s Notice,” the band blasted off into outer space with a call for “Sweaters For Strawmen.” Usually on the shorter side, this catchy tune had a recent breakout performance in Dallas, a version whose wildly exploratory energy informed last night’s.

Drummer Alex Bailey led into a thumping groove to get things started, keyboardist Dani Battat supporting guitarist Jake Brownstein’s probing leads with some Virus TI synth swells. The band quickly locked in onto some hey-hole jamming, Battat and Brownstein engaging in some excellent back-and-forth interplay as things found a new direction from the initial funk.

Morphing into a stop/start motif, Battat took the lead with some electric piano work overtop a pounding rhythm from Bailey and bassist Mike Goodman, Brownstein sticking largely to rhythm for a while with forays into lead work mixed in.

Getting into a moodier tone, Battat switched to aggressive organ work as Brownstein went heavy on the wah tones, building the intensity for a bit before switching gears and mellowing back out in lieu of a peak. Goodman and Brownstein engaged in some quick mind-reading before heading back in their different directions, a move that was immediately followed by Battat layering on a heavy carpet of synthesizer underneath Brownstein’s hypnotic repeated leads.

Things went straight grime from there, Brownstein dirtying his tone as Battat continued his synth assault. Bailey and Goodman continued in lockstep on a pounding beat as Eggy committed to this new idea, ramping up gradually in the darker zone before exploding into an absolutely volcanic peak. With Brownstein at the lead, the quartet had the crowd howling with delight at the perfect return to the head of “Strawmen,” demonstrating that things were just getting started and the band had a ton left in the tank.

Next up was the five-year bustout of “Searchlight,” making an appearance with Eggy for the first time since November 3, 2019 – a 350-show gap. The dance party song kept the energy high before diving back into the improv with a propulsive beat, Brownstein immediately taking a more active role than he had in the early part of “Strawmen.” Guitar and keys danced around each other as Bailey varied the cadence of his beat, inspiring a switch into a thunderous primal theme.

Battat attacked some phaser electric piano as Brownstein went into a hypnotic pattern that almost sounded like he was using the Chase Bliss Mood without the pedal actually being on. Bailey leaned into heavy percussion as things progressed, leading the way while Battat took a more layered approach with phased-out chords and synth washes – all while Brownstein, now armed with full delay, poured gas onto the fire with an undulating series of licks.

Modulating into a major key seamlessly, Battat switched to piano and sent cascades rolling down the keyboard as the jam quieted, Bailey still remaining at the forefront with beautiful melodic support from Goodman. Synth and heavily-reverbed guitar swept across the jam, turning the sunny motif back into something more pounding and sinister.

Brownstein began to build off of a repeating riff as Battat’s Virus synth pads sparkled, Bailey pivoting into an aggressive choogle before breaking into a disco-funk zone. While Brownstein’s incredible guitar work will catch your ear during the ensuing incendiary peak section, listen hard for Battat’s synth early on – it adds an incredible dimension to the jam.

One of the things I love about Eggy jams is how the incredible exploration will usually find itself resolving into a theme the whole band likes, which then gets blown up into a peak. That’s exactly what happens out of the disco zone, as the four members become one unit and built to an earth-shattering climax that had the Cap crowd roaring with approval as the band finished out “Searchlight.”

Taking a moment to thank the crowd, the band wasted barely a second before jumping straight into “12 Pounds of Pain.” An extended Type I tension build ahead of the last chorus gave way into some charging clav-funk, Brownstein going right into some lightly-filtered probing before finding his way into a cool off-time riff. Battat coloured underneath on some effected clav as Bailey went wild on drum fills.

Coming back to earth and solidifying once again into a dark-tinged groove, Goodman laid things down as Battat destroyed his organ. Brownstein kept coming back to that same off-kilter riff over and over, each time doing something a little bit differently as the intensity increased.

Reaching a cacophonous stage as the peak drew closer, Goodman activated his ring modulator effect along with searing synth from Battat and head-spinning tension-builds from Brownstein that finally culminated in a ferocious explosion into the ending of “12 Pounds.”

Switching over to their acoustic setup, Battat led a sweet “Eggy Birthday Song” for Brownstein – along with a cake – before the quartet put their vocal harmonies on display with “Thorns” and an amazing cover of Elton John’s “Bad Side of the Moon,” which brought Eggy’s set to a close.

As promised, both bands took the stage for a massive collaborative encore of Steely Dan’s “Black Friday” with some doses of “Bird Song” within for good measure. While the extended foray was a little bit messy at times (natural with two bassists), the interplay between Brownstein and Law was excellent and they nailed the iconic Steely Dan sound on the “Black Friday” chorus.

We’re back at the Cap tonight for the second of two shows – this time with Eggy getting things started. I’m eager to see how both bands follow up their strong opening night showing – and for what will definitely put the “cap” on a weekend to remember for all involved.