Fantastic Negrito

Fantastic Negrito lived up to his moniker on Wednesday. He came out with an old-fashioned soul intro, naming off the band members while they laid down a rolling, building jam. From the minute they went into their first actual song, neither he nor the four-piece behind him let up. There wasn’t a minute of stage time wasted as Xavier Dphrepaulezz rolled his body to the beat, jived, and belted his words. “Don’t give up,” he repeated over and over after finishing standout “It’s a Long Long Road”. He delivered positive, gospel-level banter like that throughout, even when talking about taking flack for writing his song “An Honest Man”. Coupled with the insanely feel-good nature of the songs (and their equally feel-good delivery), Dphrepaulezz connected with a crowd who likely had little idea who he was. (He’d earned his spot on the bill by winning a contest through NPR Little Desk.) That, alongside the lyrics’ relative simplicity and empowering message, allowed him to teach the words to the audience with ease. “Sunshine, let it down on me,” they sang at one point, and on a gorgeous Austin day with the fabulous Fantastic Negrito on stage, it certainly came down bright. –Ben Kaye