The Fritz and Ajeva Totally Funk Up Skipper’s Smokehouse
“Feels like a mini OBJ! What a nice night!” That was the evaluation of Sheree Englehardt about the Friday (November 30th) matchup of Asheville’s The Fritz and Gulfport’s Ajeva at Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa. The Skipperdome was full of fans who would never miss The Fritz and those, like Englehardt, who hadn’t experienced The Fritz before.
(Englehardt and her husband, Steve, are proprietors of an outstanding online concert listing for the west coast of Florida called GoTonight.com. And OBJ is Orange Blossom Jamboree, the amazing five-day celebration of Florida music each May.)
Ajeva is still glowing from their superb Amphitheatre set, the first music at the Suwannee Hulaween Pre-party, where everyone who came to check them out stayed — and danced. The dynamic rhythm section of Taylor Gilchrist, bass, and Travis ‘Too Tall’ Young, drums, kicked it off as a duet, then joined by the rest of the band as they properly lit up “Funky Situation” with Reed Skahill on vocals and Young with a great rap.
Ajeva’s outstanding rhythm section and rhythm guitar from Skahill set up all kinds of pyrotechnics from Mark Mayea on his band of keyboards and Skyler Golden, who simply put looks and plays like a guitar stud. “Off the Mountain” was tremendous, then Mayea with a great electric piano solo on “745.”
Mayea even grabbed a guitar and sang on “No Holding Back” before the band’s last tune, their magical “Funky Green Men.” Golden shredded this into tiny little pieces, twisting into metal and funk and who-knows-what before the big finale.
Let me float this out there: there is no better funk band anywhere than The Fritz. Don’t bother to change my mind. I didn’t say best; I said there are none better than they. And no more engaging front man than Jamar Woods. Don’t bother changing my mind about that, either. And they really tore it up at Suwannee Hulaween. Why they haven’t been on Jam Cruise is a mystery to me.
The Fritz made a huge entrance with a cacophonous intro into “Sound. Habits. Blame,” one of the tunes from the band’s outstanding new EP Echo. Jamar Woods soloed on electric piano and synths with a ripping guitar solo from Jamie Hendrickson sandwiched in between. Woods love to throw in quotes and added an organ-drenched “Ain’t Necessarily So” phrase during the second tune.
This quintet thinks and acts as a unit on stage, especially propelled by drummer Michael Tillis and Mikey Spice on percussion. However, the unsung hero of The Fritz is Jake O’Connor, the beret-rocking bassist who deserves much wider recognition. He was magnificent all night.
After “Undertow,” Woods crooned a great version of “Psycho Killer,” Hendrickson again blistering on guitar. Then Woods began a tender organ and vocal intro that exploded into “Another Way,” Hendrickson again with brilliant James Brown guitar thing. There was a great drums and percussion feature in the middle of “Things are Getting Better.”
During “This Time” (another new song), Woods’s synths led to a spectacular vocal explosion from the classically trained musician, and that spilled into the very Prince-like “Nothing to Find,” another new one. Hendrickson and O’Connor were incredible, with Michael and Mikey leading the way.
It seemed like they were done early, but they came back, Hendrickson gushing about how much they love playing in the area, at Skipper’s, and with the Hometeam crowd all around (not to mention family in from Ft. Myers and elsewhere). What ensued was a magnificent half-hour encore of two of their greatest songs from Natural Mind with a superb cover stuffed in between.
First up was “Stuck in Between” with the best long jam ever in, well you know, between. Then it was “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” closing out with “Walk Away” at a breakneck pace.
If you’ve already seen The Fritz before, then you know. If you haven’t, time to get on board. Because WOW!
[AJEVA: Funky Situation, Sumthin’ Else, Off the Mountain, 745, Do You Wanna Get Down, Greasy, No Holding Back, Funky Green Men]
[FRITZ: Sound. Habit. Blame, 2?, Undertow, Psycho Killer, Another Way, Things Are Getting Better, Oppenheim, Do What You Want to Do, This Time, Nothing to Find; E: Stuck in Between, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Walk Away]
THE FRITZ FALL TOUR
11/30 Skipper’s Smokehouse | Tampa FL w/ Ajeva
12/01 1904 Music Hall | Jacksonville FL w/ Nightcrawler
12/05 High Dive | Gainesville FL w/ Whale Feral
12/06 The Funky Biscuit | Boca Raton FL w/ Lemon City Trio
12/07 Guanabanas Island Restaurant and Bar | Jupiter FL
12/08 The Green Parrot | Key West FL
12/09 The Green Parrot | Key West FL
THE FRITZ NEW YEAR’S RUN w/ TAUK
12/30 The Broadberry | Richmond VA
12/31 Baltimore Soundscape | Baltimore MD
THE FRITZ WINTER TOUR
01/24 Boone Saloon | Boone NC
01/25 Calico Room | Wilmington NC
01/26 The Rabbit Hole | Charlotte NC
THE FRITZ w/ PIGEONS PLAYING PING PONG
01/30 The Jefferson Theater | Charlottesville VA
01/31 The NorVa | Norfolk VA
02/01 The Orange Peel | Asheville NC
02/02 Lincoln Theatre | Raleigh NC
02/05 The Pour House | Charleston SC