Stoop Kids, a band out of New Orleans, La., performed at Green Bar for its first stop in Alabama on its summer tour of the South Saturday.
Stoop Kids opened the night with a mix of do-wop and hip-hop sounds. Its songs also use an influence of samples from other musicians and strong horn sounds.
The band features Patrick DeHoyos on bass guitar, Thomas Eisenhood on baritone saxophone and vocals, Joe Tontillo on drums, Griffin Dean on lead vocals and guitar, and David Paternostro on keys, sampling and vocals.
“The looseness of the style and the attitude of New Orleans play a huge part in our music,” Eisenhood said.
The band has a wide range of influences from classic blues legends Fats Domino and Louis Armstrong to rock ‘n’ roll icons like the Beatles and Prince to current artists like Frank Ocean.
However, its greatest influence doesn’t come from a specific musical group, but from the band’s hometown of New Orleans, La.
“That is a lot of the reason we came to New Orleans in the first place – we were seeking the attitude and the sound,” Dean said. “It was already an influence before we met each other.”
Being the only New Orleans, La., native, keyboardist Paternostro said the city leaves a distinct impact on one’s style.
“Growing up in New Orleans, it is hard not to have jazz and funk ingrained into you,” Paternostro said.
After forming the band at Loyola College in New Orleans, La., the group decided to get on the road, starting with the Southern states.
“We are excited about our tour – Tuscaloosa is our first stop in Alabama – [but] we are also traveling all around Louisiana and Mississippi,” DeHoyos said. “We’re setting our sights on Texas and Florida after the summer.”
The band said it was also enthusiastic about Saturday’s show.
“Tuscaloosa is a great town. It has been treating us well and we are excited to come back when school starts up,” said drummer Tontillo.
Ryan Toaster Missanelli, a University of Alabama alumnus, said he enjoyed hearing the band.
“The Green Bar is a perfect venue for them to play – they have a hipster sound that jams,” Missanelli said.
Kadesh & The Perfect Strangers, a local group that formed in 2009, also performed at Green Bar Saturday.
The band is comprised of Ryan Davis, a UA graduate who raps under the moniker of Kadesh, Josh Kavanaugh on bass guitar, Matthew Wood on guitar, Alex Garrett on saxophone and Landis Lee on drums.
The group focuses on creating a special sound by mixing rap, jazz and hip-hop.
“Our music influence is broad,” Davis said. “Lots of jazz and funk groups, lots of hip hop and rock as well.”
Kadesh & The Perfect Strangers frequent Green Bar, and the band said it was excited to play with out-of-state Stoop Kids.
“I don’t know them at all,” Davis said. “Their music is cool though.”
Stoop Kids’ summer tour schedule is available on its Facebook page, and information on Kadesh & The Perfect Strangers is on its Myspace page.
