Very rarely does the schlep across town to the West Side seem appealing… unless, of course, one of your favorite bands is in town.

Fly Golden Eagle, who have been zigzagging the country with J. Roddy Walston and the Business for a 27-date North American tour, drew an impressive crowd at Stage 48. Wedged amongst car dealerships and the Hudson River, the bleak storefronts and inconspicuous venues on the West Side add little color to Manhattan’s nightlife, but once inside Stage 48, the night began to move. Fly Golden Eagle, who stood on stage as incandescent as the fluorescent lights from overhead, played with that type of sagacious fervor worthy of the bigger stages they have recently played including this year’s Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza music festivals.

Catering to tracks off their new record, Quartz, Fly Golden Eagle had the crowd moving and grooving like a bunch of psychedelic hippies at Woodstock. It’s exciting to watch these guys on stage because they play like nobody’s watching- free and uninhibited- with the care that everybody’s watching. And yes, we are. And who can blame us? This is music full of living images, with the dancing colors of the B-52s and the strut of T. Rex. Simply put, this music rocks. It’s music that grabs hold of you and forces you to live in the moment. Coupled with keyboard-master Mitch Jones, who plays like a possessed version of Animal from The Muppets, it isn’t hard to see why a distinguished label like ATO wanted to sign them.

“They were excited from the get-go,” said singer/guitarist Ben Trimble, referring to ATO’s interest in the band. “When they heard Quartz, they were excited and pressed the whole 24 songs within a year.” While considering signing the band, ATO would frequent Nashville to check out the band perform in their natural habitat. “They saw what we were up to down there and really dug it, so it wasn’t a hard selling,” Trimble said. Aside from Fly Golden Eagle’s own musical endeavors, the band keeps busy running Blacktooth Records, a label that has released all of the band’s former records as well as records of friends such as Majestico and Clear Plastic Masks. Blacktooth is a name synonymous with the creative-type in Nashville: “We’ve done some art shows, parties, and things of that nature. It’s definitely a part of our creative, energetic outlet, so it’s important that we continue that with whatever success may come our way.”

So what happens next for a rock band like Fly Golden Eagle, who have already collaborated with the Alabama Shakes and toured with J. Roddy Walston and the Business? They keep on climbing that musical trajectory to stardom.

– Melissa Caruso