A Parade of Joy (& Synthesizers!) at Sophia's

There was little doubt that Saturday's show at  would be spectacular. It featured Generationals, Gardens & Villa and Hosannas, and a whole lot of warm, flickering lights.

The balcony, which serves as home away from home for many show-goers, was packed to the point of immobility. Deep bass lines rattled chests, friendly apologies overflowed as toes were trampled, and small trek to grab a beer at the bar was transformed into an epic quest with a synth-dance soundtrack.

The two opening acts, Hosannas and Gardens & Villa, brought their own lights to accompany their music, which flooded the crowd with deep blues and reds and threw everyone into the depth of their sound.

Together, their synthesizers could fill a truck bed, but it was the front man of Gardens & Villa, who had a sack of various flutes hanging from his back, that added the most versatile sound to the evening.

The culmination of the evening was the headlining act, New Orleans-based Generationals. As they set up, it was soon obvious that the packed bar was too small to accommodate the full band and the mass of dancers, leaving the bass player no choice but to lounge on the railing of the balcony behind the stage area as he performed.

“I was told to play ‘til the cops show up,” said Ted Joyner, the lead singer, as the band got the feel for the crowd’s overwhelming enthusiasm. “And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

The blue and red lights from the openers had been turned off and a single, yellow spotlight was perched behind the drummer, flickering on and off and casting stark shadows around the silhouettes of the musicians. The bar was enveloped with its warm light and every uplifting and happy -- albeit loud -- sound from the band was met with a feeling of bliss.

The crowd demanded an encore, which caused Joyner, overwhelmed with excitement from the crowd, to climb up the side of the balcony and stand over the crowd with his guitar.

It was a triumphant ending to a parade of joyful music.  The show ended before the cops showed up -- but still the crowd left satisfied.