no entry

The scene in front of the Gypsy Avalon at 5 p.m. Friday night could appear a bit surreal. A man dressed up as Luigi, brother to Nintendo’s global icon Mario, twirled a woman around in mid-tango. A man holding a rather luxurious looking wine glass — the sort you expect at a mid-price French restaurant — swayed about, toasting the band on stage every 30 seconds and taking a sip of his white. A baby blew bubbles while his parents danced energetically. A woman thrust a folded-up camping chair into the air in time with the beat. no entry, a reggae-leaning outfit, conducted this energetic scene from the stage.

They aren’t strangers to this scene, having been around for over a decade and performing to this sort of crowd for the bulk of that period (they list their genre as “camptronica,” which seems built for Fuji Rock). Their music, as mentioned, is reggae influenced, evidenced via the heavy echo the lead vocals boasted throughout the just-under-an-hour set and what this writer’s notes refer to as “a guitar that sounds vaguely like a dolphin squeaking.” Also, bongos. The key element, though, was the energy every member of no entry brought to the Gypsy Avalon stage, which is what really got those wine-glass toting dues and plumber-mimicking punters going. no entry’s lead singer marcy danced around as vigorously as the fans in front of him, nearly breaking into a skank midway through the set, though mostly sticking with a fist-pump-like gesture. Yet no entry exuded a good energy throughout the set, and ended up calling forward one of the more dance-ready — and interesting — crowds of the day.