LYNDHURST, NJ—January 28 turned out to be like any other Friday night for me; surrounded by music and people. This time around I went to a show at a relatively new venue in Bergen County, NJ called Café Incite. The intimate bar-turned-café located at 262 Ridge Road in Lyndhurst opened up in October, and since then has been throwing shows on an almost weekly basis. Besides concerts, Café Incite provides a place to hold one’s next private events and for artists to showcase their work.
I arrived just as Lift The Decade, a band from Ringwood, NJ, was finishing their set with their ballad, “Hitcher,” which is full of amazing lyrics and instrumentals to back up the strong vocals. Though this band is young, their potential and determination makes you want to see where their next step will take them.
Once Lift The Decade cleared the performance space, Morning… a five-piece indie/alternative band, also from Ringwood began to set up. The band kick-started their set with a new version of an old favorite, “Anywhere,” which is off of their debut EP that came out in 2009. The love song is a fan favorite and always gets a good response from the crowd; it also happens to be a track I love. Though the new version was a bit rough, it still set the upbeat tone for their set. After “Anywhere,” was the first track off of their newest EP, The Greatest Feeling In The World, “Move Your Head.” The piece has a romantic and mystical feel and had fans tapping their toes and bobbing their heads.
During a tuning break, vocalist and guitarist Darryl Norrell, talked to the crowd, thanked whomever left a bottle of water underneath the microphone stand and addressed the fact that they were about to play a song that they normally closed with, titled “Glamour Shots,” which slightly confused drummer George Serr. Norrell also mentioned that the band likes if you clap with them. So complying with the request, the fans began to clap in time with the snare hits. I must say that this was my favorite song, performance-wise from the evening. At the end, guitarist Albert Chua, bassist Kieran Wardle and Serr encouraged the crowds again to join in with a set of slow hand claps to close out the song while Norrell finished out the ditty.
The band’s final tune “Business,” one of the dancier tracks off of their new EP, had many singing along and moving around. What makes this song even more enjoyable to watch live than to listen to at home is the choreography during one of the breakdowns and the segment where everyone has their own time to shine with a particular part, all leading into each other. Between Norrell’s chilling laugh during the chorus as well as guitarist/vocalist Ben Oliveira screaming that he “always gets what he wants” at the end of the song I’d say it was a perfect way to close out their stage time. Morning… also had the most fans come out to see them out of all the bands on the bill. If they’re not on your radar, they should be.
