Yes, Zulu Wave’s recordings are seriously fantastic (we can’t wait to hear forthcoming full-length Jagorilla), but the live show is where the real magic happens. Guitarist/singer Michael Barrow is a magnetic frontman, commanding the room’s attention as he slays through solos, vaults off drum risers and amplifiers, and literally leaps, thrashes and careens around the stage. Bassist Bryan Schanck matches him in energy and force, the two pushing against each other in instrumental duels or writhing on the stage floor as they solo while keysman Ariel Cortes builds the wall-of-sound atmospherics and Danny Piechocki batters his kit. zuluwavemusic.com
This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2014.
