With Dopapod on hiatus and Lotus on a small break, dance-party side project Octave Cat was able to bring their music to Covington, Kentucky’s Octave bar on Thursday. The band seemed thrilled to be the house band for the night, seeing as they hold an almost identical name to the venue. To make it even more special, the unassuming venue was celebrating its one year anniversary, so Octave Cat made sure everyone in the audience could celebrate proper.

Eli Winderman, Wurlitzer and Moog operator for Octave Cat, was the shining star of the night. It was his responsibility to provide the melody as Jesse Miller played bass and Charlie Patierno laid down the beats on drums. It was an interesting dynamic, and the latter two musicians always looked to the former to see where the music would take them. Because of this, there were multiple Dopapod teases throughout the night. But that’s not to say that they weren’t playing their own material.

Their self-titled album, released one year ago, was featured prominently in the set list. “Limber Up” smoothly segueing into “Spar,” much like on the album, was a highlight of the show, and “Tit Tat” seemed even slinkier live. Their newest single, “Precarious”, which was only released two weeks ago, was also played. The group also laid out a surprising and spot-on instrumental cover of Nirvana’s “Lithium”. The night ended with “Metropolis”, and all was well in Octave.

As quickly as Octave Cat began its seven-stint tour, it’s now ending. With only two more nights in Kalamazoo and Chicago, Octave Cat will disappear back into the jam band side-project black hole, at least for now. Hopefully, they can continue to find time to play as a group because they know how to bring a great dance party.

Setlist: Octave Cat | Octave | Covington, KY | 3/29/2018

Set: Ex Pat, Zero Sum Game, Precarious, Tit Tat, Coins, Fever Subsides, Lithium, Limber Up -> Spar, Darius, 140, Maria, Improv -> Alakazam, Intl Klein, Metropolis