By John Faussemagne
After arriving right before the show started, I strolled inside to grab a spot near the bar as The Psycodelics were doing a last-minute sound check. This half of the bar was a bit emptier than the other half where people talked among themselves and played pool. The final soundcheck ended, and the bassist standing front and center started playing a funky bassline and singing. Before long the rest of the Charleston-based band joined in. From the jump, the bassist hit every note he wanted vocally. He immediately commanded the room and people started dancing. Alongside him, a guitarist, a keyboard player, and a drummer followed. The first thing I noticed was just how nicely the drum kit was tuned with a smack stack replacing a lot of the snare hits. It took no time for the band to win over the crowd, and before long people from the billiards area moved to come in and listen.
As the second song started with just bass again, the crowd had grown. Nowhere smells and looks like it always does as the remnants of recently put out cigarettes waft through the bar where 20 years ago, the band would’ve been playing through some heavy smoke. The bassline quickly evolved into another funky hit, but this time when the bassist began to sing, the drummer followed with an amazing falsetto. He was on backing vocals duty for this song, but he took the song to 11 with the performance he was giving. The bassist and drummer were singing back and forth in conversation. Neither singing over the other, but in a rhythm together. The only thing I am wishing by this point in the show is that the drummer was set up slightly to the side so he wasn’t being blocked by the bassist, but the small Nowhere stage unfortunately didn’t have the room.
The band allows each other to play off one another. They pass it from member to member showing off their talents without the show feeling too jammy. The guitarist rips into a solo before the keyboardist pulls out a jazzy solo, then they go back to playing in harmony. The keyboardist is sitting to the left of the bassist with a pedal on top his keyboard that he would hit. Confused as to why the pedal was on the keyboard and not on the floor being played by his feet, I went up to him after the show. He showed me that he had a pedal at his feet that the audience couldn’t see, and told me the pedal on his keyboard triggered the Leslie Organ sound on his board. He laughed, then went on to explain that he used the original button so much that it broke and he plugged the pedal in in its place.
The band played an array of songs moving between their album and covers ranging from D’Angelo to Parliament. “Feel Like Makin’ Love” by D’Angelo started and to my surprise, the drummer was given full control of the song. D’Angelo is not an easy man to imitate, but the drummer, while staying in rhythm, captured the essence of the song perfectly. They followed it up with a cover of “Give Up The Funk” by Parliament with a gruff performance from the bassist. His vocals are stellar adding his own spin on the classic before my favorite performance of the night started. The keys started, and the song was unmistakable, “Work to Do” by The Isley Brothers. A song off the Brothers’ classic album “Brother, Brother, Brother,” and a song I hold close since finding it in my uncle’s collection after he passed. “Work To Do” is the standout track from the album and the drummer started singing it perfectly. He put so much emotion into the first verse before being joined by the bassist in the chorus. It was the highlight of a wonderful show.
After a few more songs, the show came to a close. The band started to pack up, but the crowd shouted for another. Whether the Psycodelics had planned an encore or genuinely thought the night was over, they sold the exit well until chants pulled them right back onstage. They went right back to the stage to play a one song encore of “Lucky MF,” a favorite from their 2025 album “Please Keep off the Grass.”
Definitely a band to check out if they’re coming to your city, listen to “Please Keep off the Grass,” and check the Psycodelics tour to see them in a city near you!
Listen to “Please Keep off the Grass” below
Tour dates
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