FOXY SHAZAM / DESCARTES A KANT / MOONDOUGH – BRIGHTON
By Rick Fleck
Foxy Shazam, Descartes a Kant and Moondough live at the Brighton Music Hall.
On a cold winter night, I headed out to the Foxy Shazam Dumpster Phoenix Tour stop at Brighton Music Hall in Boston’s Allston-Brighton neighborhood. My wife was kind enough to drive me in and drop me off, as street parking in the city is nearly nonexistent, with hummocks of snow and ice littered with cigarette butts, soda cups, and other sundry detritus still lodged curbside.
The 500-person general admission room was packed to the rafters. When the opening act, Moondough, took the stage, the floor was already shoulder to shoulder. As one thrilled fan said to me, “Enjoy this show! This is the last time you’ll see them this close!”
Foxy Shazam is a rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. They formed there in 2004 and built their reputation on theatrical, glam-infused rock and energetic live shows. The band’s current lineup consists of Eric Nally (lead vocals), Schuyler “Sky” White (keys), Alex Nauth (trumpet/backing vocals), Devin Williams (guitar), Misster Universe (bass), and Teddy Atkins (drums). Like fellow Cincinnatian Bootsy Collins and Bootsy’s Rubber Band, Foxy Shazam is, for all intents and purposes, a rock collective with multiple talented members, each with a distinct look and personality who contribute beyond standard, stereotypical roles.
Photos Rick Fleck
Their songs are flexible and performance-driven, with an emphasis on showmanship. By blending glam, funk, soul, and theatrical rock, the band becomes more than just a traditional rock act, earning the avid devotion of their fans. Think Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem meets the Plasmatics meets The Darkness, all on a consignment store budget, and you’re on the right track.
Foxy Shazam launched their fabulous glam party with “It’s Hair Smelled Like Bonfire,” with Nally singing and shouting like a madcap carnival barker while cavorting around the stage with boundless energy. He then boldly declared, “There ain’t no wrong way to rock and roll!” during “Magic” as Williams laid down some Brian May–esque, scorching guitar. The anthemic “Yes! Yes! Yes!” kept the energy turned up to 11.
“Holy Touch” is an absolute killer of a song. It deserves to be heard in arenas around the world. With the soon-to-follow “Wanna-Be Angel,” the duo delivered an unstoppable one-two punch. If FM radio weren’t co-opted and homogenized, these two songs would rule the airwaves. The enthusiastic crowd sing-along during “Holy Touch” was a highlight, and the power-pop perfection of “Wanna-Be Angel” brought me back to the heyday of The Knack. “Killin’ It” has an absolute brainworm of a chorus that makes you want to raise your fist and shout:
I’m killin’ life like a one-way ticket to hell
I’m on a high goin’ down, down, down
Next came a pair of ballads. The first, “Bittersweet Cherries,” was delivered by Nally like a tongue-in-cheek lounge lizard number. “Dreamer” hit like a long-lost Alice Cooper ballad. “Man in Bloom / Savage Beauty” became one interconnected piece that brought Foxy Shazam’s street cred to the forefront. Unique and original, the influences ran a Who’s Who gauntlet, ranging from Queen’s Flash Gordon to glam-rock progenitors T. Rex, and none other than Ziggy Stardust himself, David Bowie.
“A Black Man’s Breakfast” recalled Slade classics like “Run Runaway” in the best possible way. “Only Love” had a surprising country tinge that worked very effectively. “Oh Lord” carried a Broadway-style flair, building to a crescendo reminiscent of the best of Meat Loaf’s oeuvre. “The Rocketeer” felt like a walk down a gritty New York City alley with the New York Dolls.
The final song of the night was “The Only Way to My Heart…” Fittingly, it blended all the musicians and their instruments into a balanced whole, driven by barroom piano and big-band-style trumpet from Nauth. I know there are many things broken in 2026 that take priority, but if everything were set right, Foxy Shazam would be headlining at the TD Garden. To paraphrase the guy quoted at the beginning of this review: see them in a small venue while you still can!
Descartes a Kant is a four-piece band from Guadalajara, Mexico. They mix art-rock, theatrics, dark humor, and synth rock into a distinctive and engaging form of music. It can be enjoyed on an intellectual level or simply as top-notch rock ’n’ roll.
The band consists of Sandrushka Petrova (vocals/guitars/programming), Ana Cristina Mo (guitar/voice/synthesizer), Memo Ibarra (bass/synthesizer/voice/programming), and Leo Padua (drums/sampler).
Photos Rick Fleck
“Graceless” had a thought-provoking pre-recorded intro, with interludes between many of the songs that tied the set together around a loose concept. The music brought to mind the progressive chord structures of King Crimson’s “Discipline.” Petrova has a flexible voice and moves easily between different styles. On “Graceless” she sounded uncannily like Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles.
The band dressed in matching, white, retro-futuristic space suits, and much of the stage show centered around obsolete technology from the late twentieth century. Despite this, most of the songs felt very organic, with electronic elements adding color.
“Woman Sobbing” channeled the instrumental space-surf rock of Man or Astro-man?, but with vocals. The intriguing lyrics appeared to be inspired by Alice in Wonderland:
As she falls falls falls falls into her own faults
Through the hole hole hole hole, through the rabbit hole
Petrova gave a shout-out to the legendary Boston cabaret-rock band The Dresden Dolls, citing them as a major inspiration. “The Mess We’ve Made” was a drum-forward song with vocals reminiscent of Kim Deal of The Breeders, another Boston band. “A Catastrophe” opened with a recording touching on depression and philosophy and was the show’s most heavily Kraftwerk-influenced song, a comparison that is not hard to make with Descartes a Kant. The show came to a fitting end with the comforting message of “Restart and Heal.”
Moondough is the solo project of singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Ken Raymundo from Orange County, California. For live shows, Moondough expands into a touring group that includes Stephen Taylor (drums), Steen “Machine” Kevett-Lopez (bass), Leo Berenguel (keys), and Taylor Neal (guitar). The project’s sound has been described as “Bedroom Soul/Funk/Jazz.”
Photos Rick Fleck
“Intrusive Thoughts” was a solid rock song with both jazz and prog elements. Raymundo’s vocals occasionally hovered on the edge of falsetto. Berenguel drew a wide variety of sounds from his keyboard all night; on this song, it was the organ tone famously associated with Jon Lord of Deep Purple. “OMW” had an indie-rock vibe with a reggae beat bubbling underneath. On “Have a Nice Trip, See You Next Fall,” Berenguel evoked the church-organ sound of psychedelic pioneers Procol Harum. “Social Disco” featured a danceable bassline and was arguably the set’s highlight.
Breaking out the new song “Rocket Science,” Raymundo played propulsive guitar chords over Taylor’s muscular drumming and Berenguel’s twinkling keys. The set closed with crowd-favorite “Vibez,” conjuring the Synchronicity-era ska of The Police.
It was a great night with three unique and entertaining bands. If this tour stops near you, I recommend seeing it. The concert was the perfect antidote to the gloomy winter doldrums.
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