On Friday, Feb. 7, Brasshouse trio Too Many Zooz and chillhop artist Birocratic performed at Off Broadway to a sold-out audience.

Birocratic opened the night with lo-fi mixes brought to life with electric bass and keyboard. Generally, his bedroom studio music translated well to the live performance; Birocratic’s enthusiasm showed through his smile, simple dance moves and occasional nod to the audience: “The neck bob is a perfectly acceptable way to dance. I see you, I love you and I support you.” However, two of his songs had recorded lyrics, and hearing words while the person onstage isn’t singing felt awkward from an audience perspective. And of course, although I loved vibing to chillhop while still being able to hear my friend next to me, the set did not elevate the energy of the room as most openers do.

Too Many Zooz provided such a sharp contrast in both their music and the energy they put out that we could have been standing in two different crowds. Saxophonist Leo P. milked six rounds of applause before playing a single note, almost teasing the crowd by putting his mouth on his baritone sax only to take it back off and raise his hands for more cheering. Leo previously said in an interview with Student Life that on top of performing, he loves fashion design; his rainbow-dyed hair, blue zebra stripe jacket, sparkling gold pants and fur tail on the side of one hip were clear proof of that statement.

Leo soloed as the rest of the band set up. Drummer King of Sludge filmed himself in front of the audience as he walked onstage, and trumpet player Matt Doe walked on sporting pink sweatpants, his instrument in one hand and a coffee mug in the other.

The relaxed, ridiculous entrance belied what turned out to be one of the most energetic and technically challenging performances I have ever seen. Nearly all of Too Many Zooz’ set was played freestyle—King of Sludge mentioned that the band wanted to balance adhering to their subway busking roots with giving fans the published pieces they loved—and covers of AC/DC’s “T.N.T.” and “We Are Number One” from children’s television show “Lazy Town” emerged organically from other improvised melodies and exited just as smoothly, with Matt especially stacking increasingly fast and complex variations on a given chorus until it had transcended its reference. A bass drop takes on a new meaning when the bass is a bass drum and no electronic instruments are used, but the band knew how to build a sound and had its audience jumping on their feet multiple times throughout the night.

For a couple of their songs, Matt switched out the trumpet for a keyboard, and his backing and Leo’s solos fit more neatly into a known genre—jazz. Yet even in these pieces, the rhythm would suddenly kick up in an Afro-Cuban style, or Leo would play a chorus with one hand and gesture with the other in such a way that it was impossible not to think I was listening to lyrics translated into notes and growls.
Too Many Zooz’ Brasshouse is music is many things, and it can feel like there is more going on in one of the band’s songs than the listener is catching, yet everything the trio played on Friday was marked by high energy, amazing endurance—especially for the saxophonist dancing during multiple 10+ minute songs—and evident dedication to the craft of music underneath all the flair.