I had the absolute pleasure of catching Slow Joy this past Thursday at the Jambaloo!!! over at Club Dada in Dallas, TX. Accompanied by Greybloom and Dezorah, the night was full of sweat, tears, laughter, and fun. While Dallas was only the second stop of Slow Joy’s first-ever US headline tour, I am sure the city set the bar for the remainder of the tour.
Slow Joy (Estaban Flores) hails from New Mexico but currently resides in Oak Cliff here in Texas, so it didn’t matter that this show was on a Thursday night as the city was experiencing a bit of a heat wave. We needed to pack out the venue for one of our own. Right? Obviously, the crowd got the message too because the venue was indeed packed from wall to wall with fans eager and excited to see what Slow Joy had in store for them. As Slow Joy continued to serenade the crowd with Midwest-Emo bangers that fused components of a tortured soul and someone yearning to fight through the sadness, fans screamed the lyrics back as loud as they could. Hell, during the first song, I’m pretty sure Slow Joy gave up the mic for several fans to sing the lyrics without missing a beat. That is some crazy fan dedication that I have not seen from an artist in quite some time.
And speaking of fan dedication, it is obvious that Slow Joy is just as dedicated to ensuring that fans truly have that stellar experience. Don’t believe me? How many other artists do you know that would just jump into the crowd to film a music video with the premise, “go fucking crazy”? Not many! But, that is exactly what happened as Flores jumped into the crowd with his mic stand and they started filming. The crowd was nonstop smiles for the rest of the set and you just can’t blame them.
While this was my first time experiencing the chaotic bliss of Slow Joy, I highly doubt this will be my last. It is only a matter of time before they are able to set out on another headline tour and I would not be surprised if the next is bigger and better than before.
