A Garden of Surprising Delights at the Marquis Theater

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Photos by Sandisz Thieme, Story by Molly McGrath

Something about the energy of the Garden as they played the Marquis last Tuesday was shocking and innovative, chaos in its best form. The Marquis lineup was one of the strangest, most innovative lineups I’ve ever seen; The Garden, Fat Tony and Loretta Kill all highlighted each other in a strange, puzzle-esque way.

The Garden, two androgynous model twin brothers (Fletcher and Wyatt Shears) from Orange County, California are the founders of what they call the “Vada Vada,”  genre (as well as a state of being) the defies all set binaries and puts a twist on traditional punk and electronica. Over the years, their music has transformed from minute long punk ballads about simple and everyday things, to complex beat driven songs following narratives of their life in “the Vadaverse.”

The Garden opened the show with the title track of their new album “U Want The Scoop?” and as soon as the band began to play, the audience began dancing, moshing, and singing along. From somersaults to strange hand gestures, the comical side of the Garden’s music is brought to life on stage, including their personal interactions with the audience- shaking the hands of every person in the front row and allowing audience members to sing the catchy choruses into the microphone.

The Garden’s performance however, greatly contrasted that of Fat Tony’s. Although high levels of energy remained throughout the night, Fat Tony brought a very different vibe to the room. The Nigerian-American rapper from Houston had many members of the audience dancing as he sung, rapped, and occasionally screamed the lyrics to his songs.

But even before Fat Tony took the stage with his  R&B influenced hip-hop vibes, locals Loretta Kill took the stage. Their music, loud, punky and danceable, had the members of the teenage audience bobbing their head along. Some members of the audience, like myself, danced vigorously through their full set. Eli Lancaster of Loretta Kill described the night as the strangest lineup he has ever seen, yet the most fun he’s ever had playing a show, and I totally agree with him.