Music Sumo

Hello Bay Area musical socialites! It was great to see you the other night at the Cosmic Love Ball with DJ Wyllys, the North Beach Brass Band, Materialized, and Rubblebucket! That’s right, it was another great year for the futuristic love circus called the Cosmic Love Ball, which is held at the Fillmore in San Francisco every year to celebrate life, love, and music. This year, the Fillmore was adorned with wall hangings around the auditorium with heart accents around the room, including a whole wall filled with heart lights. Naughty love was certainly in the air though. As you entered the Fillmore you were greeted by a statue of a blindfolded angel’s bust offering you the traditional Fillmore apples. It was certainly a symbol of how the night was to progress.

The evening started off kind of slow with people slowly trickling in, but the lively DJ Wyllys kept everyone energized in the main auditorium while the North Beach Brass Band kept people entertained upstairs in the Poster Room. Eventually, the North Beach Brass Band marched their way downstairs and onto the dance floor to announce the beginning of the evening. It was awesome having them come down and march through the crowd. It really got everyone moving and it felt like we were swept away to New Orleans for a moment. Once everyone was hyped up the lights went down and genre bending house band, Materialized, took the stage.

If you have not seen or heard Materialized go check them out right now. They blew the crowd away at the Cosmic Love Ball with their intense energetic beats, thundering bass, and killer synths. They either kept people standing in awe, or made people move uncontrolablly. Either way, people seemed to be transported to cosmic love bliss. It is really hard to pinpoint what genre Materialized really is though. In fact, on their website they actually say the following:

“Any attempt to pigeonhole Materialized as an electronica band, a jam band, a jazz band, etc. doesn’t really work since this band has giant antenna always scanning the airwaves for interesting new ways of combining the musical banquet of the 21st century.”

They seem to rely heavily on beats, but they seem to twist and turn enough to keep you guessing on what kind of band they really are. One thing is for sure – they are really good.

Adding to the fun of the evening, artist Lebo was painting along to the music. It was great to see images appear before our eyes as he worked on them. It really seemed to add another layer to the music too. It was a great addition to the entertainment for the evening. Thank you Lebo! The Galactic Muses dancers also took the stage several times to add some drama and flare with their sexy dance moves and several costume changes.

Soon after Materialized finished their set, Rubblebucket came on. They were pretty good, and accomplished musicians, but I did not really care for their set as much for some reason. They seemed to be too showy with semi afro-cubanesque influences and some pop thrown in, and the combination really was not working for me. However, their horns were really good and I was definitely moving. In fact, the whole crowd seemed to really enjoy them and everyone seemed to be moving their butts. It was a really good time. What I really loved the most was when singer Kalmia Traver would hop on the baritone sax every once in a while and took command of the stage. Even better was the end of their set when she hopped down off the stage with her sax and started playing through the crowd with the rest of the band and the North Beach Brass Band to end the show as they walked out of the venue. It was an awesome way to interact with the crowd and change the atmosphere of the venue before finishing the evening. Good times had by all!

If you are around the San Francisco area next February I highly encourage you to check out the Cosmic Love Ball. It is a wonderful evening of good vibes, good music, and good times. I hope to see you all there next year!

COSMIC LOVE BALL GALLERY: