I recently caught Beats Antique at The Howlin’ Wolf in New Orleans. The all-instrumental band, comprised of David Satori (guitar, viola, and percussion), Tommy Cappel (keys, percussion), and Zoe Jakes (belly dancer, composer, and producer) fuses Middle Eastern tribal sounds with experimental world music and electronica.
Lynx, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Colorado, was the opening act and wowed the crowd with her electronic folk-pop melodies, timelessly lovely voice, and intense beat-boxing skills. Katey Red, a New Orleans native credited with originating Bounce music, also brought some quintessential local flavor to the concert.
Zoe Jakes.
After much anticipation, Beats Antique arrived onstage and the magnificent Zoe Jakes immediately put the audience into a trance. Zoe’s dancing is a creative blend of traditional belly dance with tango, break dance, and Indian dance. When Lynx came back out for “Crooked Muse” off of Contraption Vol II, Zoe was sporting a beautiful mermaid costume and brief technical difficulties inspired her to crowd surf, which was awesome.
The band played an assortment of old and new tunes, including their remix of Bassnectar’s “Voodoo”, and ended with “Cat Skillz”, complete with animal masks and confetti.
The combination of their unique sound and Zoe’s mesmerizing visual performance was incredible. I highly recommend jumping on the chance to see them live. It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen!
Check out their video for “Revival” below:
By Olive Henzel
Photos by B. Hockensmith
