J GRGRY's Energized Night At The Croc

J GRGRY w/ Fabulous Downey Brothers and NRVS LVRS
The Crocodile, Seattle, WA
06.24.17

Opening the night was San Francisco-based NRVS LVRS–pronounced “Nervous Lovers”–a dark wave band comprised of husband & wife duo Andrew Gomez and Bevin Fernandez. With deep, wavy synths, soaring vocals, and crooning guitar, they were in a similar vein as Austra. They featured tracks off their recently-released sophomore full-length, Electric Dread, and proved a perfect introduction for the evening.

Up next were Fabulous Downey Brothers, who always put a lot of effort into their set via costumes, backgrounds, and dancing. During one track, the keyboardist put a giant vinyl divider from the stage to the back door, which people were hesitant to cross despite it being only 6 inches tall. FDB is a bit Devo-meets-B-52s, but with robots. They had projections tied to each song, so when the recited lyrics, someone in the video appeared to be singing along. And halfway through, they were attacked by cosmic beams and transformed costumes. This is a band unlike anyone else around town.

And then it was time for the headliner, J GRGRY, and from the first chords, The Crocodile was transformed into a dance party. Vocalist Joe Gregory was painted up in a pink and gold combo with white eyelashes, gold glitter triangles on his chest and back, and the entire band felt energized for this last show of the first leg of their GOLD TEETH + GLASS EYES Tour, in support of their recent EP of the same name.

Gregory, a very powerful singer, gave an emotional performance that got the crowd all singing along and dancing. The guitarist thrashed about, while the bassist was more subdued and nuanced but lively nonetheless, powered by the cheering of the crowd between every song. An army of projected visuals lit up the stage and the band, wrapping around Gregory as if to make his head and torso appear static while the rest of his body is highlighted.

After finishing the final song, ‘Flood’, Gregory detached his microphone from its power cord in a rather dramatic fashion before making a beeline for backstage. The band continued to play for another minute or two, never letting up their energy, before finishing up the song. Despite all the cheers, the band did not return for an encore, but it was a stellar night regardless.

J GRGRY Set List
Erase
Cave
Poison
Giants
Bees
Roladex
Ships
E Flower
Porcelain
Flood

Review and photos by Alex Crick

J GRGRY