Zapp made bodies move at MATI

When Zapp took the stage at The Big Top Friday night as a headliner for the 6th Annual Music at the Intersection, they answered the question of why throwback funk/soul/R&B bands maintain a captive touring audience.

Yes, their infectious hits compel one’s body to move before the brain has the chance to grant permission. And yes, the mics are on. But the true reason festivals enlist — or pay tribute to — funk bands of the 1970s and 1980s is because they are an experience. Zapp is no exception.

MATI audiences would have accepted — even appreciated — a perfunctory set that included Zapp’s greatest hits for the sake of nostalgia. But that would have been a disservice to the legacy of the band.

The crowd who packed The Big Top now have their own memory to pass down about how Zapp turned the stage out. Except for a young dancer, these men of a certain age proved they could hold their own against any millennial or Gen Z artist with their high-impact show.

96.3 The Lou FM’s Infamous DJ Quinn set the tone with a playlist that included cookout classics and 1980s jams like EU’s “Da Butt.”

Pristinely dressed in bedazzled black tuxedos, they worked the stage from start to finish with high kicks and flips that amplified the magnetism of the music.

The show began with a video tribute to the band’s late founder Roger Troutman and the announcement that the band is one of the music industry’s most sampled acts. The band hadn’t emerged yet when the bass line for “More Bounce to the Ounce” dropped. The crowd erupted anyway.

And they stayed on their feet for the full set, which featured their greatest hits and a featured performance by funk and disco duo Tuxedo — a group comprised of solo artists Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One.

Lead vocal responsibilities for Zapp were split between two performers. Both had auto-tune machines that rolled back and forth across the stage so they could participate in the choreography.

By the time the band sang “Let me see your body moving on the dance floor,” the audience had already given themselves permission — and that dance floor extended from the stage to the entrance and exit.

A mellow moment came with the performance of “Be Alright.” They connected the song to 2Pac’s “Keep Ya Head Up,” which samples the track.

Featured guest group Tuxedo fared better with the audience than expected thanks to their trio of infectious selections that kept the groove going. Their set included an additional background vocalist. Their song “So Good,” a reimagination of Snoop Dogg’s raunchy rap classic “Ain’t No Fun,” fared especially well.

Zapp’s perfect combination of energy and nostalgia was the ideal Big Top bow to MATI’s weekend residency throughout Grand Center. Earlier performances for night one included Illphonics, Nubya Garcia and Moonchild.

After The Big Top concluded, the party continued with MATI Artist-in-Residence Keyon Harrold and hip hop stars Tef Poe, AJ McQueen and Grammy winner Rapsody and Sovereign. 

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