Wow. Just wow. If you have the chance to see Brooklyn’s BLACK TAXI in a small venue before they explode into amphitheaters and stadiums, I highly recommend you take advantage. What a way to start off 2012 for live shows. Anyway, It was my first time at Tommy Doyle’s, located smack dab in the middle of Harvard Square, and first impressions were that this was going to be a very special, intimate show indeed. Upstairs in The Loft, BLACK TAXI played to a full house and nearly blew the roof off.
As someone who had never even heard a note off their first record, Things Of That Nature, the show at Tommy Doyle’s was an eye opening experience and made me fall deeper in love with this band. Starting the set with TOTN opener “Shoeshine”, BLACK TAXI aimed to please. Multi-instrumentalist Ezra Huleatt went from trumpet to keys to xylophone in the blink of an eye yet still managed to channel all of his excess energy into the crowd.
Throughout the hour long set, new songs meshed with old songs easily. We Don’t Know Any Better single “Tightrope”, in particular, was greeted with a roar of approval. “Take A Ticket” was mind-blowing live as guitarist Bill Mayo took center stage and sounded like a cross between David Byrne and Josh Homme as bassist Krisana Soponpong led the crowd in hand-claps and Huleatt pounded along on a bass drum. “Up Here For Thinking, Down For Drinking” started at one point and out came the Panda mask for Ezra. Surreal is an understatement. All the while, Jason Holmes laid down a solid groove, never missing a beat or a fill. BLACK TAXI turned up the heat so much they made everyone in attendance forget about the bitter winter night they were eventually going to travel out into.
Four unassuming guys separately but together in a studio or on stage BLACK TAXI is a force to be reckoned with. Please, please, please catch this band live and check out both of their releases. Go here for a list of current shows and here to buy their stuff!