On Thursday night, New York City music fans were treated to a fantastic pair of performances, as five-piece funk outfit The Main Squeeze rolled into The Bowery Ballroom along with LA-based instrumental trio-on-the-rise, Organ Freeman. Weeknight shows in the City–especially on the coldest night of the season so far–often suffer attendance-wise. But fans braved the cold and came out in numbers to catch these two talented acts.

Organ Freeman kicked things off with an hour-long set, skillfully performing several songs off their eponymous 2015 debut including “Go by Richard, Not by Dick”, “Verve”, and “Only If You Mean It”, as well as the hilariously-titled “Putin and I Get Along Fantastic”.

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The Main Squeeze took the stage for their headlining set after a brief intermission. The Squeeze was HOT on this chilly evening, from vocalist Corey Frye‘s charismatic MC-ing (and Fresh Prince theme song rap), to guitarist Max Newman’s tasteful soloing and crowd-pleasing teases (including an “Xplosive” jam), to Ben “Smiley” Silverstein dealing out thick funk grooves on the keytar and trading solos with bassist/second keyboardist Rob Walker. The band even treated the crowd to a searing cover of Pink Floyd‘s “Have A Cigar”, with Corey’s vocals giving the psychedelic classic a unique and infectious energy.

The show’s closing segment also served as its improvisational highlight, as the band took “I’ll Take Another” on a ride, shifting from pools of major-key bliss to a Christmas medley that saw Newman gracefully run through both “Silent Night” and “Carol of the Bells” before triumphantly transitioning back into the song’s main theme. The band wasn’t finished when they walked offstage after the monster “I’ll Take Another”, returning for a two-song encore including “Dr. Funk” (which Frye dedicated “to that NY diesel”) and new track “Only Time”.

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The Main Squeeze continues their east coast run with shows in Hartford, CT and Cambridge, MA this weekend. For more information and to buy tickets to any of their upcoming shows, head to their website. You can see a full photo gallery below, courtesy of Patrick Hughes and Faces of Festivals.

Setlist: Organ Freeman | The Bowery Ballroom | New York, NY | 12/8/16

Two Steps, #WWC, All In, Sweat (Bring It Back), Love Yourself Somebody (Smiley solo), In A Funk (Xxplosive tease), Shot, Mama Told Me (no guitar, DRUMS), Ebaneezer, Have A Cigar (Pink Floyd cover), I’ll Take Another (Silent Night jam, Carol of the Bells jam)

Encore: Dr. Funk, Only Time

Setlist: Organ Freeman | The Bowery Ballroom | New York, NY | 12/8/16

Go By Richard, Not By Dick, Verve, Putin and I Get Along Fantastic, Only If You Mean It, Change For A Nickel, Untitled 1, Untitled 2, You Said You Quit Drinkin’