Reggie and the Full Effect - February 18th, 20th, & 22nd
If anybody knows me, they know that I have a huge affection for everything that James Dewees does (which is a lot of things). So, as I sit here about to write a review of the three Reggie and the Full Effect shows I attended this past week, I’m reminding myself to be as unbiased as possible and not to wax poetic for a hundred years. We’ll see how that goes. This is, however, going to be pretty lengthy. I apologize - but it’s three shows worth of fun and I want to shove as much of this experience as I can into this review, especially for those reading that have never been to a Reggie show. This is but a taste of what you’re missing, guys.
After six years away from touring, Reggie and the Full Effect hit the road once more in support of a new album (No Country For Old Musicians, Nov. 2013) and fucking killed it. James Dewees is animated, charismatic, a brilliant musician and a fantastic storyteller. From silly songs about food, love, monsters, and everything in between, Reggie and the Full Effect’s discography has something for everyone.
A Reggie show is essentially a really weird comedy show during an even weirder musical performance - just getting continuously weirder as the show goes on. I don’t think it’s necessary (or even very possible) to write about the style of music that Reggie is. It’s eccentric, fun, and straight up good tunes. Now, I’ve been a fan for about 7 years but these three shows were my three first Reggie shows ever, and needless to say I was nowhere near disappointed. For much of the first show (The Space in Hamden, CT), I was in a slight state of shock and awe. It was almost hard for me to just dance and rock out because I didn't want to look away for a second.
Dewees comes out, does a bit of an introduction, and plays his “Intro” track off No Country. From there the show jumps straight into a setlist that seamlessly packs and combines old and new Reggie songs. During and in between songs, Dewees is very interactive with his audience, telling stories about his past adventures on tour and in life and cracking jokes. Each night followed the same outline, consisting of a Reggie set, a Fluxuation mini set, and a Common Denominator mini set. For anyone that doesn’t know, Dewees has alter ego bands that each have a song or two on his records. Fluxuation is a British techno pop star, and Common Denominator is a Finnish death metal band.
In any case, the three shows I attended were each very special in their own ways. The one that stood out the most, though, was the New York City show at The Studio at Webster Hall.
As Dewees has lived on Long Island for ten years, the NYC show was somewhat of a hometown show for him. In addition to that, many concertgoers already know that NYC shows tend to be the craziest night of any tour that stops in the Northeast. And oh, crazy it was.
I guess before I get into the real crazy things, I should mention that there were two fairly normal (but still special) things about the NYC show.
First, Frank Iero (ex-MCR, LeATHERMOUTH, Death Spells, and, most importantly, best friend of Dewees) came out to lend his voice and energetic presence to a performance of Who Needs Another Drank?. For much of the song, Iero leaned into the crowd and screamed into the faces of a few lucky audience members.
In addition to that fun time, Dewees had mentioned in CT that he would be playing Disregard (off of No Country) for his wife for the first time in NYC. He even asked us if we thought it was alright afterwards! In NYC, his wife was there, and Disregard was dedicated to and played for her. It was adorable, James Dewees is adorable, and everything was adorable.
Back to the crazy… My friends and I love to bring fun things and/or gifts to give to musicians that we like when we see them play shows. In Connecticut, we gave Dewees candy(Cadbury Eggs, a favorite of his) and a bunny ears headband to wear. We asked him why Sundae, Booty Sundae (a Fluxuation song about whipped cream being “all over you, girl” on No Country) was not on the setlist and if we brought whipped cream to the New York show, would he play it? He said he would, so that’s exactly what happened.
Fluxuation generally consists of Dewees slipping into the alter ego by stripping to a hidden layer of clothing beneath his outfit. On this tour that clothing underlayer was a too-small Duck Dynasty tank top (showing off Dewees’ lovely tummy) and shorts. He brought out the whipped cream for Sundae, Booty Sundae at our request, spraying it all over himself and audience members in the first few rows. We were okay with it, though, as getting things on your face isn’t out of place at a Reggie show.
While Dewees is performing as Fluxuation, his band disappears from the stage to dress up as Common Denominator. As the Fluxuation set ends, they grace the stage again and Dewees leaves to get into his outfit. Enter alter-ego Klaus, dressed in a nun’s outfit with his face and hands soaked in fake (and sticky) blood. His band mates are dressed similarly, wearing white masks. During the first song, Dewees plants his bloody hand on as many audience members in the front rows as he can. Dried whipped cream and sticky fake blood, plus the sweat of yourself and others that is unavoidable at concerts, mmmm!
The Asbury Lanes show in Asbury Park, NJ was not as insane as the NYC show, but definitely crazier than the CT show. It was certainly insane in its own way, though, being the last stop of the tour and also in the middle of a fucking bowling alley. Special moments from this show included the members of the opening bands Pentimento and Dads coming on stage during the last Common Denominator song, doused in all of the leftover fake blood from the tour. Together with Dewees they aggressively (but lovingly) threw each other around the stage and into the crowd. At the end of the Common Denominator set, Dewees tossed his keyboard into the crowd and I saw one lucky audience member taking it home with him after the show ended. There was also a very cute grown men puppy pile, no doubt celebrating the end of the tour.
After these shows, Reggie and the Full Effect has easily become one of my favorite live acts. The atmosphere is wild, energetic, weird, and fun. I don’t often leave shows feeling so exhilarated and satisfied, or appreciated. James Dewees is not only entertaining, but he is one of the sweetest men I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet and chat with.
This is a band that you should see up close and personal at least once in your lifetime, and as far as I know, Reggie is set to be on the road again at least once more before 2014 ends. If you’re in the Kansas City, MO area, you can catch them at Ink’s Middle of the Map Music Fest in April. Keep up with details by following James on Twitter, liking on Facebook, and checking out the website.
If you haven’t listened to No Country For Old Musicians yet(which you really should), the whole thing can be streamed via SoundCloud and purchased digitally on iTunes and Amazon MP3.
