Slow Joy’s Jambaloo Set Was an Instant Classic

Dallas has had some legendary artists play small shows before they became international superstars. Nirvana at Trees, Kendrick Lamar at the Prophet Bar and Lady GaGa at the Cambridge Room at the House of Blues are all shows you wish you had been there for.

Slow Joy’s show at Club Dada Thursday night might be talked about in the same way years from now. Slow Joy is the brain-child of Oak Cliff resident Esteban Flores. In 2020 Flores had quit his pursuit of music, but the tragic death of his mother brought him back to it as part of the healing process. This raw emotion gave him a way to tap into his authentic self and as a result, he produced some very touching and relatable songs that struck a nerve and he found his audience through livestreams on TikTok.

Slow Joy’s music has been described as “Midwest emo” and easily sways back and forth between intimate and emotionally charged lyrics with just a light guitar leading into a heavy and sustained thick sound that begs for moshing. Flores has seen his audience go from a handful of close friends at small shows to selling out clubs like Three Links in Deep Ellum. This show was the second on the band’s first national tour, spanning the country with over 30 shows.

Last night was also part of the inagural Jambaloo, which is a free week-long event featuring shows in Dallas, Denton and Fort Worth put on by The Mullen & Mullen Music project.

The show opened with screamo band Greybloom. This opener really set up the night with some crazy energy that pumped up the crowd. Next-up was Dezorah, who definitely understood the assignment. The core of the band is husband and wife duo Dani and Eric Dezorah, and the moody vibe of their sound was enhanced by their makeshift light show using LED rods.

This show could have been in pitch dark and you still would been blown away by Dani’s voice and overall stage presence. She had little regard for gravity or the imaginary wall that binds some singers to the stage. Devorah has been around for some time and had their loyal followers but they absolutly won over the crowd with their high energy set. It was refreshing to see two of the three bands fronted by women.

Finally the main attraction hit the stage. After an ambient music intro with a robotic female voice preparing the crowd for what was next, Flores came out alone and sang a mellow verse of his song “Crawling,” which very quickly erupted into chaos as the loyal fans went wild. There was moshing and stage diving and a lot of people singing along from this moment on for the rest of the show.

Slow Joy, which can be any number of different musicians and instrumentation, depending on the vibe of the show, featured a four piece. Alongside Flores was guitarist Nathan Cruz, bassist Grant Miller and drummer Corey Dill. Halfway through the set, Flores took the mic into the crowd where he invited everyone to be part of his music video for the new song “Gruesome.” This served to get the crowd even further invested in the show.

Jambaloo has given bands and audiences a fantastic opportunity to see great live music for free and last night was undoubtedly a show people will talk about for years to come.