Fitz & The Tantrums @ The Mod Club

Fitz & The Tantrums @ The Mod Club
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Opening Group: Mookie & The Loyalists

___First timers in Toronto, Michael Fitz and Noelle Scaggs (Fitz & The Tantrums) spent most of their morning doing interviews and touring the city! Meeting them was awesome, especially Michael. He was such a sweetheart! I had the opportunity to host a small interview with him, which I'll leave at the bottom of the entry. So, how were they in person? Humble and super interested in interacting with fans! Amazing, because I wasn't sure how they would be.

___Opening the nights events was a band by the name of Mookie & The Loyalists. Totally old school, flashy, a band who would and did cover "Hound Dog" (Elvis) kinda band. I had a lot of fun during their set. Lead singer Mookie Morris was definitely the re-incarnated Elvis. Reppin the red suit, you could tell this guy really knew how to work the stage! They were cool, I'd see them again. Check out their Myspace, click here.

___Clearing the stage of most instrument, with the addition of some... It was time for Fitz! I notice the lights were the same tono of blue and red from their website, and this was making me really excited! Surprisingly enough, the floor wasn't as crowded as I had expected it to be...The night was underrated, which meant more space to dance! They hit the stage and started off with "Don't Gotta Work It Out". The band looked absolutely fabulous! Dressed to impress, and they certainly did! They got the crowd dancing, clapping, singing... it was so much fun! When "We Don't need no Love Songs" came on, all I wanted was to be dressed like folks from the 1960s and to be dancing with a boy in a fedora. There was nothing to not love about their set yesterday! Michael Fitz sang with every cell in his body, until he fell purposely to the ground at the end of a song! I was wide-eyed throughout the show. Back men like Jame's King impressed me too, from playing the Sax to the Flute, I was just super glad to be there. At one point they had the whole audience get down, and I mean really get down and jump up... it was just too much fun. Thank you for an amazing night guys. The Mod Club was the place to be Wednesday night, and if you were there, I'm sure you can agree!

Check out footage from the show!


Conclusion: Best motown pop show ever (at least this year) !

And now, a few words with Michael Fitz himself.

LTT- How are you liking Toronto? When did you arrive?
Fitz- We only got here this morning and Noelle and I hit the ground running... did a ton of press and tv ... this woman from Toronto drove us all around...so we got to already see quite a bit of the city. We went to the university and did an interview at the radio station ...

LTT: How are you liking the tour so far?
Fitz: Loving it you know...and it's been really exciting for us...on this tour we're getting to go to so many cities that we've never been to like Toronto, Montreal, Portland, Maine, Boston, and it's a lot of places we've never been ... Finding out that we've got a lot of fans in places we didn't know, so for us as a band it's really rewarding to see that the music is getting out there

LTT-So after this tour, is there anything planed with other bands? I know you've previously toured with Maroon five...
Fitz- Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Flogging Molly... Uhh, I don't know... I know there's been talk about maybe going on the road with some other artist... but uh, right now were just sorta enjoying doing this sorta smaller club tour... like being the headliners of our own tours, just going out there and building it on our own.

LTT- Any music festivals lined up so far?
Fitz- Yah we got Austin City Limits, Sasquatch (Washington State), and a couple here in Canada that I'm not allowed to say.

LTT- Have you guys thought about collaborating with other artists?
Fitz- Uhm, not yet, but we're definitely open to it.. had a couple emails back and fourth with people so we'll see if that comes...were about to do a remix contest for the first single of Money Grabber... we're going to put that up online for people to take the elements and do their own twist ... i love when people remix stuff ...it's always good to hear people's take on stuff..
LTT- Yah, I've actually heard a couple online...
Fitz- Yah, Party Supply outta Brooklyn, He did a great Remix!
(LISTEN, CLICK HERE)

LTT- If you could choose any artist to collaborate with of any genre, who would it be?
Fitz- Ce-lo is pretty bad ass, Adele is amazing, but I really like Major Lazer

LTT- So what as a band have you guys been listening to on the road?
Fitz- Major Lazer, Deerhunter... we get some band that gives us their cd and yah we always check it out...local acts and stuff like that...

LTT- Any upcoming albums to look out for?
Fitz- Well we're definitely already working on our next record...when it comes out? I don't know...But we've definitely started the process of writing... going in and back in the studios when were not on the road...might release another single for a 7-inch collectors vinyl in the next couple months, we'll see!

LTT- Last words to your fans?
Fitz- Keep in touch with us on FB. Noelle and I do all the messaging, so please send us a message. If its not her it's me. It's the best way to know when were in town. Click here to check them out.