“We did not write these songs. We just made them better,” declared guitarist and Scary Pockets co-founder Ryan Lerman. Along with co-founder Jack Conte, the musicians modeled their band after Postmodern Jukebox (known for reworking modern music into different vintage genres). But these tunes aren’t about the past. They are about the funk. Scary Pockets began releasing funk music covers over their social media channels in 2017 and quickly built a following. Conte’s job as the CEO of Patreon (providing tools for content creators) makes it difficult for him to tour. So, Conte was only at the show in spirit.

Scary Pockets kicked off the show with The Bee Gees’ Staying Alive. Dancing commenced near the front and back of the venue. The band members wore shiny satin jackets like a modern-day Sha Na Na (sorry I couldn’t think of a more current reference). Vocalists Mario Jose and Therese Curatolo alternated singing duties performing Michael Jackson’s The Way You Make Me Feel, The Beatles Come Together, Estelle’s American Boy, and many others. After Jose crushed Oasis’ Wonderwall, Lerman proclaimed, (the singer’s) “voice was so smooth that if you put a camera down his throat all you would see is pure velvet.”

The band encouraged the sold out crowd to sing-along. And they obliged. At one point, Curatolo stopped singing Amy Winehouse’s Valerie and let the audience finish the song. They knew every word.

Before Scary Pockets brought out the funk, singer-songwriter David Ryan Harris opened with just his electric guitar and a kick drum. His song Coldplay describes Harris and an ex-love attending a Coldplay concert.

“The lights went down and the mirror ball was spinning
It was a sold out crowd but everyone disappeared ’til
It was you, me and Coldplay“

Harris confessed that the song was a lie. He never saw the British band in concert.

Band members from Scary Pockets joined Harris for several songs including Junkie a high energy call and response number. Harris returned the favor and adored a shiny gold jacket to perform a few songs with the funk band. His impressive version of Harry Styles’ Watermelon Sugar almost made me forget about the song’s explicit subject matter.

See you at the next show. I’ll be the one in the shiny jacket with a pair of scary pockets.