Diane Coffee’s Shaun Fleming is two parts Bowie, one part Jagger plus a dash of sequined-romper-swagger. The Southern California-based, soulful-psych rockers went “off their leash” on Thursday, February 4th at Cosmic Charlie’s in Lexington in promotion of their second LP “Everybody’s a Good Dog.”
Founded by the Foxygen drummer, Fleming and his band of “good dogs” lit up the stage with the singer’s over-the-top stage antics and sounds reminiscent of bands such as The Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker, and Fleetwood Mac.
Diane Coffee & His Good Dogs
Pulling equally from last year’s Everybody’s a Good Dog and 2013’sMy Friend Fish. The band took the stage beginning the set with the “Hymn,” the opening track off Fish. Adorning sparkly blue eye shadow and armed with his guitar, Fleming weaves seamlessly between fuzzy 70’s Rock and 50’s Motown Soul, gracefully towing the line in shiny white loafers. The band continues and runs through favorites such as “Everyday,” “WWWoman” and the sunny, nostaigic “Green” which could be something off a Tommy James and The Shondell’s record.
The first half of the set focuses on the band, showcasing their beautiful backup vocals and precise instrumentation, allowing the viewer to get a sense of how talented the group is before Fleming steals the show. After a half set of catchy, Beatles-era pop, Fleming leaves the stage during an epic jam session and returns wearing a sparkly, flowy female’s romper – and he must feel as fabulous as he looks because from this point on he doesn’t stop and all eyes are on the character that just took the stage!
That Jagger Swagger
The now-present Diane Coffee works the crowd, dancing from on side of the stage to the other, locking eyes with the audience, inviting them to dance with inhibition along with him. He jumps and gyrates, hands on his hips like Mick Jagger, announcing the next song like an auctioneer on speed. His antics leave him panting, and the crowd wanting more.
Diane Coffee’s shows are like their albums, they seem calm at first, but they take wild turns into punk rock territory and back to nostalgic psychedelia with ease. With two solid albums under their belt, unique collaborations with bands like the politically-charged rappers Run the Jewels, Diane Coffee shows no signs of slowing down (or running out of eye shadow). Be sure to catch them in your city on their Winter/Spring 2016 Tour.
Hear the whole show, available through the DAB Soundcloud:
Diane Coffee – Cosmic Charlies – Lexington, KY. – Setlist
Hymn
Soon To Be, Won’t To Be
All The Young Girls
Everyday
GovT
WWWoman
Green
Down with the Current
6 as You
Mayflower
I Dig You
Not That Easy
(Encore)
You’re Mine
New Years
