Live music review: Dazey Chain at the Moon

When Jeff Dazey was approached by a local club owner to put together an act to draw in a younger crowd, the sax player from the Josh Weathers Band did the logical thing: He put together a vintage funk/soul band doing covers of bands like Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder and Otis Redding.

Yeah, it didn't seem logical to me either.

But as Jeff said after a packed gig at The Moon on Jan. 26: "You know what? A night like tonight kind of proves it."

You can say that again. I've never seen The Moon packed with so many rabidly enthusiastic fans. TCU students don't take up that much space, but I doubt that you could have fit another one in there. Stop by The Moon when it is empty, and it's a pretty unimpressive looking bar: a rectangular room with a few chairs, a bar and stage that looks a little too big for the space. But with Dazey Chain working the room into an ecstatic jam, the atmosphere was electric.

Dazey plays tenor sax for the band, which is sort of a Funkytown supergroup. Weathers fronts the band, doing lead vocals and rhythm- guitar duty. Big Mike Richardson, who is known as the human jukebox for his one-man cover band, does lead guitar and backing vocals. Blaine Crews of the Campaign is on drums, Justin Barbee of Villain Vanguard and Shuttle is on keyboard and trumpet, and Dino Villanueva, also of Villain Vanguard, is on bass.

"This ain't no Lady Gaga bullshit," Weathers announced from the stage. "This is real music."

Dazey Chain opened its set with a Jaco Pastorius instrumental, followed by a painfully good version of the Bill Withers classic Use Me. Weathers' vocals just cut right through the room, and the crowd was feeling the groove.

The show wasn't without its problems, especially the sound system. It was pushed a little too loud for the room; in between songs, unexpected bouts of feedback and noise would assault the band and the crowd at earsplitting volume. At one point, Crews came out from behind the drum kit, grabbed a microphone and proclaimed: "I'm not going to lie, that sound is pissing me off."

I also could have done without the band's more contemporary flourishes. Dazey Chain did a cover of Hall and Oates' Maneater, after which Weathers promised there would be no more post-'70s songs. He broke that promise a couple of songs later with a cover of Billie Jean. Now Big Mike does a disturbingly convincing Michael Jackson. But it felt like your favorite movie being interrupted for a commercial break. Hall and Oates and MJ don't belong in the same set with Jaco and Withers.

Still, it was impossible to deny the energy on display; and when Dazey Chain got back to the classics, all was forgiven. They redeemed themselves with Jungle Boogie and Hollywood Swinging by Kool and the Gang, Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder, and Let's Get It On by Marvin Gaye. During the Commodores' classic Brick House, drummer Matt Mabe of the Quaker City Night Hawks joined in on percussion. And for a few blissful moments, the entire Fort Worth music scene seemed like one big, joyously happy family.

Dazey Chain plays Feb. 10 at Tolbert's Restaurant in Grapevine. For more information, go to www.facebook.com/pages/Dazey-Chain.