Fitz and the Tantrums put some soul into it at the Music Farm

Fitz and the Tantrums

California band Fitz and the Tantrums — led by vocalist Michael Fitzpatrick — shared the Music Farm stage with April Smith and the Great Picture Show last week. City Paper’s Stephanie Barna was there. She issued this report:

I’m writing this several days after last week’s Fitz and the Tantrums show at the Music Farm (April 12), and I still can’t stop thinking about what a great night it was. The energy was sexy and fun, the band was tight, and the crowd was completely into it.

So much so that frontman Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick seemed utterly grateful to find himself in South Carolina — of all places — with a room full of fans, singing along and dancing all night.

Opening act April Smith and the Great Picture Show had a great set, with a spot-on cover of “Bottoms Up,” the naughty club-banger by Trey Songz. It was the perfect precursor to the main attraction. As soon as Fitz and the Tantrums hit the stage, the party was on. Singer Noelle Scaggs insistently thwacked her tambourine, singing her parts with soulful gusto. The interplay between her and Fitz crackled with sexual energy. Whether it’s pent up or not didn’t really matter, what mattered was that everyone was having a great time.

The audience was a diverse mix of young and old, white and black. The band kept the rhythm tight and even busted out a flute solo on “Picking up the Pieces.” The booties were shaking, and the show ended all too soon.

At one point, after rocking through the songs from their album Picking Up the Pieces, which seems to chronicle one vicious break-up, they came back for an encore and treated us to a cover of the Eurythmics ’80s hit “Sweet Dreams” before ending the night with their radio hit “Moneygrabber.”

The next day on Facebook, they gave Charleston a solid shout-out: “Charleston you treated us right tonight!!! Great food, great people, great f-word-ing show! Thank you all so much!”

I think that means there’s a good chance they’ll come back. And if they do, it’s a show you won’t want to miss.