Also known as UV Hippo, this five piece rock band spread jam all over my ear toast. Touching all types of music, UV HIppo is indescribable. They have you jamming out one second, and then funk you out of your shoes with some spacey jazzy African reggae the next second. Complete with an awesome light show, these guys are a must-see if you like any genre of music.
Coming from Grand Rapids, Michigan, these guys are as cool as anybody can be. The band consists of Brian Samuels who can slap a bass like no other, Joe Phillion on the drums who you can catch with a gigantic smile on his face most of the time he is drumming, Russel James who can get you lost in the sounds of his guitar, Another percussionist, Casey Butts who plays all types of hand drums, and the electronica backbone of the rock band, Dave Sanders who was playing four different sets of keys at one time with two hands, while singing.
Their influences range all over the spectrum from Frank Zappa to Lotus to Steely Dan to my favorite band, The New Deal. If you see them live you can hear a touch of all of their influences in their performance. The highlight of the night was when Joe and Casey did a full out percussion only jam, getting everybody on the dance floor and causing me to wonder why everybody in Raleigh wasn’t their to see it.
