REVIEW: Foxy Shazam with Descartes A Kant: Live at The Masquerade (Purgatory) - ATL

The high-octane rock band embraces insanity at their ATL show

Foxy Shazam playing at The Masquerade in Atlanta (Photo by Joe Chiarella)

Foxy Shazam is a band best experienced live, a fact made clear on Friday night at The Masquerade in Atlanta. Their Dumpster Phoenix tour is a non-stop spectacle of musicianship and showmanship, delivered via a high-octane, 18-song retrospective of their career. 

Descartes A Kant opening at Purgatory (Photo by Joe Chiarella)

Before the headliners took the stage, the packed Purgatory room witnessed a full-scale production of the album After Destruction by Mexican experimental rockers Descartes A Kant. Their performance blurred the lines between a rock concert and an avant-garde stage musical. Clad in silver spacesuits, the band interacted with ‘The DAK,’ an on-stage computer, navigating menus to 'fill existential holes' and chase digital hits of instant self-gratification. Ultimately, this leads to destruction, and the computer redirects you to the “healing program,” giving a message of hope. Vocalist Sandrushka Petrova eventually broke character to offer the crowd a more personal word of encouragement regarding modern global anxieties.

The cigarette-eating antics of Foxy Shazam (Photo by Joe Chiarella)

Foxy Shazam’s philosophy, by contrast, centered on the total abandonment of the outside world. Their show carried the frenetic energy of a circus, complete with physical acrobatics and seemingly impossible feats. Eric Nally may be one of the greatest frontmen in rock and roll, but attention-grabbing moments came from all sides of the stage. Whether it was Sky White flipping his keyboard around on stage like it's a toy, or Alex Nauth leaning precariously over the crowd with his trumpet, it was a show that could captivate even the shortest attention spans. The evening's most shocking moment came when Nally lit three cigarettes on stage, took a few puffs, and proceeded to chew them up and eat them. Golden sparks shot out of his mouth, mixing with the smoke above his head, while the long-time fans in the crowd roared for what has become a sideshow staple at Foxy Shazam shows. 

Perhaps Foxy Shazam was the distraction and gratification that Descartes a Kant warned us about, but to the cult-like followers of the band, it was a necessary detour. You can't dwell on real-world stress during a show like this, and Atlanta was more than happy to trade its worries for a few hours of rock and roll.

Article and photos by Joe Chiarella. Please credit @joe.takes.pictures or @art.seen.atl if reposting on social media.