Recording: Rock Plaza Central

Artist: Rock Plaza Central

Song: My Children, Be Joyful

Recorded at July 3, 2025 at The Baby G.

Rock Plaza Central - My Children, Be Joyful

Rock Plaza Central were local stars of a sort 'round about 2007 when their concept album opus Are We Not Horses gained a buzzy glow, transforming them from "oddball collective with a monthly Tranzac residency" to "touring indie band", with a shifting cast adding ramshackle glory under frontman Chris Eaton's literate, yelp-y vocals. Inactive since 2010 or so, the band was called back to action this summer for a Mariposa reunion performance, and eased into it with this local warmup bar gig.

Seven wide across the stage, the mostly-multi-instrumental crew managed to evoke plenty aughts nostalgia with a rambunctious gang approach, with glockenspiel cameos, sudden horn section manifestations and Eaton singing his heart out as he occasionally struggled to remember words and chords but was propelled forward by the momentum of the whole thing. Though leaning on Horses, there was also a surprising amount of engagement with their wider discography — not only its follow-up ...At The Moment of Our Most Needing, but also the early the world was hell to us, which was surprisingly well-represented. Ragged but right, this was a joyful time for the performers and audiences, treated by both as a chance to catch up with some old friends who might have to be forced to get a babysitter these days and head out to a show.