Shaun Astor / Tahoe Onstage photos
Fever 333 hit the stage like a tornado; unrelenting, bodies in a frenzy of motion both onstage and on the floor, with sweat and bottled water gushing everywhere… and this was just the first song.
The three-piece band from Inglewood, California, was the sole performer this night, with singer Jason Aalon Butler looking over the crowd and mentioning that there were many score more present than at the band’s previous show in Reno. “There were like 10 people there last time. It’s good to see a few more tonight.”
And with that, the band launched right back into its manic set.
In awe of the sheer energy, this evening felt as if one was in attendance of a Rage Against The Machine show before that group hit it huge. There were more than a couple similarities between the two outfits.
At its core, Fever is a rock band, though the band’s strong protest iconography – labeling their performances “demonstrations” rather than concerts, opening with a video projection depicting film of activist movements and police cars in flames, and appropriating symbolism of the Black Panther Party on patches and T-shirts. Mixed with heavy rap and punk influences, that give them a genre-bending sound and aesthetic.
Without a doubt, the band’s growth from a 10-person bar show to Cargo’s spacious floor performing for fans already wearing their shirts or showing off tattoos of their logos is a result of their music’s explosive catchiness.
The band’s stage presence included everything from Butler’s running around the stage or jumping into the crowd — where he brought everyone into a crouch during a slow part before exploding upward as a cohesive body– guitar player Stephen Harrison jumping and playing across the venue’s bar before swinging his guitar wildly above his head, and drummer Aric Improta jumping, standing or approaching the stagefront hoisting his snare stand in one hand while swinging on the cymbal with the other before setting it down and doing a backflip and running back to his kit. Theatrics doesn’t begin to describe the flurry of motion and activity put forward by the three.
Playing for an hour from their Made In America album and Strength in Numb333rs ep, the rockers ended with the song “Hunting Season” before the stage’s stark lighting gave way to the house’s ambient glow and just as quickly as the tornado blew through Cargo, it left and an eerie silence took over the room.
— Shaun Astor
