Beats Antique has been touring behind its latest album, “A Thousand Faces Act II,” since last fall but, after two sold out concerts in the Crystal Bay Casino’s Crown Room, it’s exceedingly apparent that it hasn’t lost one iota of enthusiasm for performing this set.
Beats Antique musically is a two-piece group of DJ/multi-instrumentalist David Satori and Tommy “Sidecar” Cappel on drums. With the help of dub-step based backing tracks, Satori and Cappel create swirling Middle Eastern pieces that seemingly sweat and writhe with adoring audiences. The music, however, is just the beginning. The duo is rounded out by entrancing lead belly dancer Zoe Jakes, who dances within the music, seemingly controlling the tempo with each movement.
The instrumentation during the set was ever-shifting with Satori switching between guitar, bass, violin and percussion. The melding of Middle Eastern and circus-themed music added to the surreal and cartoonish nature of the outfits that the dancers continually swapped out as the show went on. And with each Alice-in-Wonderlandian twist of the show, it became increasingly clear that the chaotic essence of the performance was contrary to the precise costume changes, set list and choreography. This, of course, mattered naught to everyone in attendance.
The crowd’s appetite for music was voracious throughout Beats Antique’s tireless performance and the stage show only kept them wanting more until the very end. The band members plus Jakes and a small amount of dancers outdid themselves from the first song to the last, beginning with circus-tinged mini marching band and ending with a 15-foot-tall inflatable dog. As soon as Beats Antique took the stage, it was clear that this was not to be your standard rock concert. It really wasn’t meant to be much of a concert at all. It was a circus; a carnival for adults, an experience that joyously overstimulated the senses and, by all of these descriptions, was a massive success.
The prodigal daughter returns
After moving to Los Angeles almost exactly a year ago, Hometown hero Whitney Myer triumphantly returned to the Crystal Bay Casino as the opener for Lafa Taylor and Beats Antique.
She performed songs off of her latest EP, “Articles of Luminous Nature,” as well as Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody” and the Oasis hit “Wonderwall.” The elastic quality of her voice was aided by her tasteful use of a vocal processor and was bolstered by a terrific band that included the ever-talented Gia Torcaso on bass.
Cheesy Lafa Taylor
Lafa Taylor is a DJ, emcee, producer, Beatboxer and singer from Oakland. He showed his many talents over samples from a wide range artists such as Notorious B.I.G. and Lettuce and the crowd responded to the familiarity laced within the tracks. Affable and light hearted throughout, he brought laughs to the room by rapping lines like “for Pete’s sake, sometimes my rhymes are cheesier than cheesecake.”
– Spencer Kilpatrick
