The Higgs New Years Eve at The Mint LA Review

The Higgs New Years Eve Show 12/31/2018 The Mint

The year of 2018 was an incredible year for The Higgs, and riding that momentum, it was clearly time to headline their own New Years Eve show. When I walked into The Mint, it was clear that they had made the right call, as the place was full of beautiful smiling faces already getting down to the opening band, Mestizo Beat. It’s amazing what this band has accomplished this year, and this show made it clear that 2019 is already the Year of The Higgs!

The Higgs hit the stage right around 11:30pm and wasted no time, jumping into a super-funky cover of Prince’s “1999”. The whole band was chomping at the bit to throw down and quickly settled into a filthy groove. This thing clocked in at just under 30 minutes and bass player, David Barsky, was destroying us with nasty bass bombs the entire song…to be honest, he was thumping like a mad man all night long. As midnight approached, the band landed things back in “1999” so we could say hello to 2019 (also, 1999 was 20 years ago?).

Commence countdown, tasty little smooch session with my beautiful wife, and we were off into “Auld Lang Syne”…but this was not your parents “Auld Lang Syne”, it was the bands take on the funky Harris & His Christmas Avengers version with all the bells and whistles. Everyone took a turn throwing something down as the band ripped and shredded their way through the song.

Up next we were treated to the debut of John Lovero’s new song “Late Night.” If you are a fan of Late-Night philosophical conversations around the glass table (like I am), there is no way that you won’t love this song. It features an ethereal instrumental section with soaring riffs and builds. Lovero channels Trey (Anastasio) a little bit on this one (never a bad thing as far as I’m concerned). Definitely looking forward to the band opening this one up in the future and seeing where it goes.

Jesse Jennings (keyboards) then took a second to give a shout out to The Higgs Family before they launched into a short but sweet “Utopian Situation.” This song showcases Lovero at his finest, gritty soulful vocals layered with bluesy Clapton refrains – so yeah, basically a Utopian situation.

The instrumental Dance of The Locusts was beautifully played and was well timed to give everyone a bit of a breather before launching into a monster cover of The Band’s “Don’t Do It”. This was the song AND jam of the show IMO- hell, so far, it’s the jam of the year!!! Serious get down dance party with everyone in attendance grinning ear to ear. It’s obvious that the boys truly enjoy playing this tune. More funky grooves from David – Jesse weaving tight delicate refrains…this one was well played from start to finish and the energy it brought was unparalleled. “Dude Wears Socks” teases got some of our hopes up, but alas, teasing is all we would hear of that tune as the band took a hard turn into what would be an interesting and entertaining “Timekeeper” to say the least. As the band weaved its way through the intricate, syncopated voyage that is “Timekeeper”, it was just too much for one member of the audience. She apparently could not contain herself and felt the need to join Jesse behind the keys. Fortunately, she maintained enough composure to allow the band to finish “Timekeeper”, and Jesse commented “as if that song wasn’t difficult enough, that was a true challenge…”.

A fairly straightforward (when it comes to The Higgs, straightforward= amazing) “Kung Fu You” got the booties shakin’ once again, as the band wrapped up a kick-ass set of music. Encore started with Garrett pounding out some beats and then a well-played raucous cover of the Al Green/ Talking Heads classic “Take Me to The River.” The jam on this one wound up some tight build and release moments, and the “Auld Lang Syne” bass solo at the end was a nice touch.

This was easily the best Higgs show of the year (sorry, I can’t help but drop 4th grade New Year’s jokes). I cannot wait to see what 2019 has in store for these guys, and I’ll be there in person to witness as much of it as I possibly can. I recommend you do the same. See this band, buy their merch, try to keep your yaps shut during the music, and please give people space to dance! That’s all I have to say about that.

Happy New Year everybody!