There are a myriad of ways that lend credence to the long run success of touring bands when peering into the crystal ball of their future – a meteoric debut track, an inescapable social presence, etc. – but in the end, the aforementioned examples are incredibly fleeting in terms of long run economics. But when a band like Brooklyn’s EZTV comes into town and members of The Raconteurs, Sun Seeker, Blank Range, Keeps, Dogs of Oz, and COIN attend in a purely spectator capacity, its hard to deny the fact that EZTV is on the precipice of big things to come.
After a run a stops opening up for Miss Jenny Lewis (who was headlining Live On the Green the same night), EZTV were headlining The End with support from local buzz groups Big Surr and Ornament. The band opened up with “Pretty Torn Up,” off their stellar 2015 debut, Calling Out, as front man Ezra Tenenbaum’s wandering musings of confusion got the fairly reticent but totally reverent crowd’s heads bobbing. EZTV’s brand of power pop buzzers and balladry isn’t necessarily country, but in an environment like The End, it feels like a familiar second cousin to the local scene.
To use a familiar idiom, the band let their music do the majority of the proverbial talking early in the set, but preceding “Reason to Run” – the newest single off their upcoming LP High In Place – Tenebaum took a moment to inform the reserved and space conscious crowd that it was a “quieter, mellow one; nice for coming closer to the stage.” The crowd was more than willful to appease such a request, as EZTV continued to tear through the set with a soft, yet deliberate slate of power pop.
The rest of the set featured a number of tracks off of Calling Out, along with a few tracks off of High In Place, and even stellar indie-fied Flamin’ Groovies’ “You Tore Me Down.” All in all, the show was a solid night of power pop prowess solidified by EZTV’s contemporaries creating the ultimate indie “real recognize real” environment, along with EZTV’s Shane McConnell showing love to Ornament, opining, “They’re so good. I feel like we’re going to be talking about being at an early Ornament show.” McConnell’s comment was incredibly earnest, and pervasive in the sense that it could encapsulate the entire night as a whole. If EZTV is coming through your spot any time soon, you’ve got to get in to the show before you’re hard pressed to get a ticket.
Lockeland Springsteen 