We’re Living In The Fast Lane

I’ve been going through a bit of a health scare. Thankfully, I found out on Thursday that it was just that—a scare. It was the first time I had been able to breathe in the past couple of days, and I was ready to celebrate. Luckily for me, I had a heck of a show to celebrate at.

First Avenue’s mainroom was already packed by the time I made it inside. A line for merch wound around the iconic venue, and a palpable sense of excitement was in the air. I bypassed the line for merch and got to “my spot” just in time to get my camera ready and experience the magic of opening act ZAYKA. I was instantly intrigued as ZAYKA popped up on stage with a trombone in his hand. He wailed on that thing like it was Jimi Hendrix on a guitar as electronic beats flooded the air by way of the speakers. It was an interesting combination, for sure. I mean, come on, trombone and electronic music? It was something I had never heard before but something that I was instantly in to.

Stylistically, the music of ZAYKA could most easily be described as trombone-forward electronic, but there is so much more to say than that. His quick opening set had a very EDM feel to it, and I watched in awe as he tooled around the little table set up in the middle of the stage, hitting random buttons and fiddling with random things to make a full-room sound that was inescapable. I know that I am definitely understating the talent that it takes to do what ZAYKA does by referring to his movements and actions as “random fiddling,” but I truly just don’t know the correct words to describe what he was doing to create the magic he was giving the packed audience. What I do know is that ZAYKA was a heck of a way to get the night started and definitely left me in love with the talent and passion that he showcased under the bright lights of the First Avenue stage.

Electro-swing is a thing, and no, I’m not making that up. I honestly had never heard of the headlining act, Caravan Palace, before. I had a few friends chattering about the show when it got announced, but it wasn’t until I was trying to plan out my week and my boyfriend urged me to cover this show that I took the time to check this band out. I was instantly hooked. Much like ZAYKA, the music of Caravan Palace was unlike anything I had ever heard. It was organized chaos and clearly took influence from everything from Django Reinhardt to Daft Punk. It made you dance even if you were having the worst day of your life and, truly, was the soundtrack to me getting through this terrifying health scare I’ve been in (again, I am 100% OK! But I urge you all to be your own advocates when something feels off or, in my case, you find a random cat and then have a weird dream but that’s beside the point).

Created in France back in 2008, Caravan Palace has been making waves in many scenes, and it’s clear why. Their heavy beats that make every bone in your body vibrate bring in the EDM kids. The prominent use of horns with a jazzy vibe brings in those fringe jazz fans. The overall power of this band brings in the metal kids. The quirkiness brings in, well, everyone else. It leads to a dynamic performance to match the seemingly random demographic. Although I was fascinated watching how all of these people came together through this one band, I was just as mesmerized by how it didn’t matter what brought you to First Avenue on Thursday night. Even if it was just a friend dragging you along, you were dancing, smiling, and having the time of your life like work didn’t exist on Friday and like there were no worries in the world. Although I loved the music of Caravan Palace, I loved the freeing feeling that the atmosphere in the room gave me even more.

I lost track of how many songs Caravan Palace played. It had to have been at least twenty if not more, but I know that it wasn’t enough. I recognized some of the tracks (like their bombastic cover of “Black Betty” from Lead Belly) and noticed sparkles of samples scattered throughout their set, but overall, watching Caravan Palace on Thursday night was like discovering a whole new world. All of the rules I knew about music had been blurred. My rule of not dancing at a show for fear of looking like an idiot was broken almost instantly. They had me questioning everything while not caring about a damn thing at the same time.

I’m going in circles right now, but I feel like I haven’t really laid out precisely what Caravan Palace is or why you should check them out. I can tell you that what I feel this morning is glorious, and it is purely because of the joy I felt Thursday night. Throw out the rulebook. Get down with some electro-swing, and make sure to check out Caravan Palace the next time they roll through a town anywhere close to you. Truly, if I had my way, I would have called in sick to work today just to see them wherever they are playing next. Yeah, they were that good.