Concert Review: Diane Coffee at Bunk Bar, 2/19

Starman and Coffee.

It felt like we got away with one, standing against the bar, watching half of the brains behind the calamitous and ever-buzzed-over band Foxygen take over a venue the size of large living room. The dual projectors, throwing media on a handful of geometric-shaped screens, suggested the production value of a band on an international tour. Yet, there we were, jaws agape as Shaun Fleming and company treated us to an arena-worthy set of hyperactive new-soul.

Fleming, a former child actor, has held onto all the stagecraft he learned as a kid. Over the course of the evening, he sang and slow-danced with crowd members, threw out winks like confetti and swapped his suit for a rhinestone jumper. His face was painted blue and gold and dusted in glitter. The set was sharp and filling, fleshed out by his five-piece band. They pulled equally from both of its records and made timely nods to Bowie, including a quick cover of "Suffragette City."

Much has been said of Foxygen and having seen them live a handful of times, I was expecting chaos. Yet, Diane Coffee walked that tightrope between tepid and wincingly awkward. It was highly flammable—in the form of raucous solos, bizarre rants and extremely animated stage mannerisms—but it never combusted. The band was well aware that it had in its circle a true frontman, and set the soundtrack to his highly entertaining, soulful sermons. And Fleming, by the end, was more than aware of the talent surrounding him, making way for an extended guitar riff or drum fill.

In true soulsmith fashion, Fleming allowed his band to handle most of the sound while he took full custody of the stage. His voice, often blown-out on tape, was surprisingly clean while still packing a gravelly punch. It stretched past every octave with the soulfully anthemic "Green," and offered the perfect counterpoint to the bouncy, bass-y shuffle of "Never Lonely." It was doo-wop revival according to a high-functioning, neurotic, extremely talented quintet.

All photos by Bridget Baker.

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