Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros- Las Vegas July 3rd- Hard Rock-

I am still on a high from seeing Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zero’s last night at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas.  We were introduced to this band a few months ago by our friends T and F when we stayed with them in San Diego- I fell in love with the song ‘Home’ and listened to it on repeat for days.

This merry band encompasses the musical talents of ten musicians and is described as a blend of Alternative country, Indie folk, Neo-psychedelia. I am totally in love with the trumpet player Stewart Cole, such a talented musician with an adorable smile. I spent most of the show standing right behind Tay Strathairn the piano player. He wore rainbow colored tie dyed pants and a polka dot shirt. He ate gummy bears and drank water. I fell in love with him hard and fast. I seriously cannot picture this guy ever being angry or losing his cool- total vibe of perfection with a killer smile. The two main vocals who started the band in Los Angelos in 2009 are Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos. Alex is a charismatic talkative guy. He has a wonderful vibe about him and made himself extremely accessible to the audience.  I did not get too near him although I could have touched him- I’ve smelt dirty hippies before and didn’t need to go that road again. Jade, where was Jade? Not on the stage most of the time. I guess everyone is entitled to their bad days and last night might have been one of hers. For the first four songs Tay lead the bands performance, he encouraged Jade to sing one ‘prayer’ hymn but when she got a shock from the mic she left. Alex prompted the audience to call her back but instead the band took a set break after just four songs. One new song which they played was titled ‘Open Book’ and I call 'great' on it.

When they returned they dove right into songs off their album Up From Below. Just before ‘Desert Song’ Alex gave a monologue that described his affinity to the desert and how being in the desert in Vegas, he is amazed at how quickly everything is absorbed by the sand… like water, alcohol and blow.

This is Tay's worn in piano

The other members of the band:
Nico Aglietti does an amazing job on the guitar and synthesizer- He also spoke a bit during the show and seemed to really enjoy being there.  When Airin Older played the banjo I got a fresh burst of happy, he predominatly played the bass which is often the least appreciated and most important aspect of the overall sound. Josh Collazo is an amazing drumer. This guy played the drums while killing it on percussion. He gave a full body work out and I can only imagin that he would be sore ALL OVER after any performance. I totally love Nora Kirkpatrick and covet the dress she wore at the show last night. She is beautiful gracious and makes playing the accordion look sexy. Christian Letts is a talented guitar player and Orpheo McCord does a great job on percussion. The whole band pretty much does vocals and percussion at some time during their performance.
They were great. It was an amazing show. I really hope to see them play live again and I pray with all my heart they keep their vibe and continue to appreciate their fans as much as they showed us they did last night.
Here is footage from a live show taken a year ago- I think their dynamic is amazing.

Their Home