A contagion of belted ballads was the fevered theme of this performance in the Bronze Peacock at Houston’s House of Blues. The sultry April Smith and The Great Picture Show opened for retro mod squad, Fitz and the Tantrums. April and her swanky band delivered a durable production of artful tunes accompanied by an upright bass (It’s a thing of rhythmic beauty to see these giants make a graceful comeback) April had the crowd tapping and swaying with her classics and renditions. She roused the crowd and fluidly segued into Fitz with a classy channeling of Led Zeppelin.

When Fitz hit the stage, he rumbled the crowd to its feet. The packed house bounced all night to their evocative greats without a still soul in sight. Through a scattering of dance tempos, the entire party was engaged by the band’s high energy. Like a dapper captain, the flashy Fitz conducted the band and the audience alike. The lovely lady Scaggs at his side built upon his efforts and took the crowd to an even higher level with her soulful gospel and hypnotic vocals. Even if you proclaim “I can’t dance,” you would for this. They seemingly had every person on feet, in the air, and on the floor.

The group had asses on the ground (literally!) for the encore “Moneygrabber.” Fitz had everyone crouched down and quiet as the song slowly built to its hook. Bums and knees were all to be seen until Fitz jolted the crowd to its feet in one furious instrumental spasm. It was not only a stand up presentation, but an outstanding jump-up, shout-out performance by this magnificent ensemble.