As if 10 wildly happy, flailing musicians onstage wasn’t enough, the highlight of set last night at the featured as many as 50 people up there with them. The apex of a highly charismatic performance, the near-debacle midway through the two-hour set was the result of frontman Alex Ebert inviting “anyone who has a birthday tonight” to come on up.
Fortunately, the perfectly apropos, mini-fracas onstage didn’t completely derail the show.
But then, neither did the fact that the Zeros never use a set list, but rather take suggestions from the audience and discuss what to play next between each song. The process usually moved pretty quickly, but stretched out to be an ordeal a few times. Itap the nature of Ebertap charismatic, almost cultish leadership that kept the show moving, and it was fascinating to watch.
Ebert and Jade Catrinos led the troupe successfully through a tumultuous set with that dixieland sound of 12 different songs being played at once, all the while dancing around like ultra-happy Muppets. The mix was one that recalled both children’s theater and high school assemblies, Funkadelic and the E-Street Band. And yet, somehow, the whole thing worked.
The band poured through at least 15 songs, highlighted by favorites like “Janglin’,” “The Truth,” “40 Day Dream” and, of course, the mega-hit “Home” in front of a wildly enthusiastic, sold out crowd. But the audience remained largely entranced, and only became more feverish as the night wore on.
Opener Rocco DeLuca nearly stole the show with a brilliant solo set before Ed and the Zeros came on. Literally — and beautifully — beating the hell out of a well-worn 1931 National acoustic, DeLuca was an ideal pairing of Jack White and Devendra Banhart, anchored by solid, slide-ridden and sparse Delta blues. His short, powerful set reached a solemn, moving climax with an emotional cover of Etta James’ “At Last,” dedicated to the late legend.
Fans planning to attend tonightap repeat lineup at the Ogden are in for a hell of a moving (if a little exhausting) show.
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Billy Thieme is a Denver-based writer, an old-school punk and a huge follower of Denver’s vibrant local music scene. Follow Billy’s explorations at , and his giglist at .
Joshua Elioseff is a Boulder based photographer of everything, a self-professed music junkie and regular contributor to Reverb. Check his photos out on Facebook or his .
