The Toledo Show & Sacrilicious

Have you ever experienced the desire to leave Chico for an evening in "The City" — any city — but had obligations the next day? Let’s get real, we all have. One plus to living in Chico is that many talented bands journey far distances to our un-city, importing music normally found only in the great metropolises south of our speck on the map. Wednesday night at Mr. Lucky ‘s was a fine example of this phenomenon.

Sacrilicious is the musical collaboration of Omarr Escoffie of local band, Slow Car Crash and Joe Gauthier. The duo mixed up big city, club-quality instrumental tunes. Particularly impressive was their last song, "Sugar Stolen." I’m not huge fan of music with synthesizers, but the competence of both Escoffie and Gauthier was evident.

According to Escoffie, Slow Car Crash has plans to shift their current style closer to this direction. It will be intriguing to see what evolves when Slow Car resurfaces to the local scene in the fall.

When I first heard of The Toledo Show, they were described as ‘swanky’ and that pretty much covers it. The air of glamour and cool was apparent the minute bandleader Toledo Diamond strutted into the joint. The dapper city-slickers had arrived and were set to school the small-town locals with a sophisticated mix of funk, jazz, hip-hop, and anything else they felt like throwing in.

You may wonder why this band is named "The Toldeo Show," as opposed to, say, "The Toledo Band." Allow me to clarify. This band does not simply just perform, they entertain. There was the unbelievably blistering-hot trumpet player (in just his first gig with band) and the two female dancers, who provided a physically provocative translation of the music and a heck of a show for all the guys in the crowd, who had enormous smiles on their faces. I must also mention the band’s two singers, including Diamond himself. Now, for the life of me, I could not decipher a single word of the songs they sang, but even if their lyrics are only half as good as their stage presence, then who cares?

There is another fascinating footnote about The Toledo Show. The singers and the dancers smoke cigarettes while they are performing, and made it look completely natural. Sort of like Dean Martin with a martini in his hand, it just belongs there.

Perhaps the only thing lacking from the show was some of the audience members’ ability to either fully comprehend or appreciate the talent in front of them. Don’t misunderstand, several in the mass crowd had a great time dancing. But many others stood around the dance floor appearing unsure whether they liked what they were seeing and hearing, and quite a few left abruptly before the brief, hour-and-a-half show ended. Granted, The Toledo Show is highly sophisticated, and the crowd may not have been expected this type of ensemble to swagger through Chico. But take it from a former city girl: this kind of originality, style and musical finesse is not easily found, even among bright neon lights and skyscrapers.

-Linda Overly
-Photos by Lloyd Herrera

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