AZTEC SUN Album Release Party at Pearl Street Warehouse

AZTEC SUN's lead singer and front-man, Steph Detchou, made it clear early on that the band wasn't messing around during their album release party at Pearl Street Warehouse. "No warm up songs" was the mantra for the evening, as the local "funk with soul" band threw down with an adoring,  sold-out crowd at the Wharf's Pearl Street Warehouse. Celebrating the band's debut album, "In the Name of Everyone," AZTEC SUN ran through an energetic and endlessly danceable set of originals with covers thrown in as mid-song jams and segues from funk to soul to R&B to Afrobeat and right back to funk.

In a recent interview with DC Music Review, the band shared that their goal for the album was to capture their live sound in the studio, and it's clear why they'd have that in mind as one of DC's most electric live acts. The band took the stage in outfits that are best described as "psychedelic cocktail attire," and dove head first into a high energy set that featured sections of choreographed dancing and full-band movement that engaged the audience all night. AZTEC played three original songs and a brief cover of Sly & the Family Stone before playing the first song from the new album, "Red Line."

From that point on, the celebration was in full swing as the band clearly had a ball on stage, with Detchou and vocalists Sara Ghebermichael and Lee Anderson dancing with each other on stage throughout the set. Each member relished watching the others take solos, and they laughed and cheered each other on throughout the night. With their hometown crowd joining them for the party, this was a band fully in their element. The band worked the crowd in songs like "Get Up" and "Love... Call on Me," the ever-reliable AZTEC SUN set-closer.

By the end of the night, AZTEC SUN had played all eight tracks from their debut album "In the Name of Everyone," with three of them coming after the band made a wardrobe change during the encore break. The band pulled out all the stops for this show between the change in their outfits, special guests on stage, and a nice, long set list that put an exclamation point on what has been an exciting fall for one of DC's rising local bands.