Local group Rhythm Ship was the first act to take the fog-ridden stage at the packed Dover  Brick House on Friday, Aug. 4, bringing with them a blend of music that boasted equal parts funk, jam, rock and world beats. They used these genres to create a very danceable sound that got the whole crowd on their feet and up to the front of the room dancing. Hell, there was even a dude with a cane spinning around in circles, which was curious.

It was hard not to be swept up in the energy of the show. Lead vocalist Maggie Woods is as entertaining as any performer out there, out-dancing the colored strobe lights and wiggling and contorting her body in ways I hadn’t even thought possible. It’s hard to get a good photo of her because of this, but hey, if you’ve got that much love for what you’re doing, then no complaints.

The band played for about an hour, jamming on a few very good original tunes and exploring a couple of cover songs, including Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing” and a staggering version of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II),” which was cleverly placed in the middle of one of their originals and fit flawlessly into the mix.

Up next was New York City’s Red Lotus. It would have been hard for any band to follow Rhythm Ship’s performance, so no fault to Red Lotus for falling just a tad short. The band had a rockin’, thick grunge sound that was far too rehearsed and “in-the-lines.” It’s safe to say that the entire crowd was waiting for lead guitarist Jean-Marx Santel to rip into a blistering Soundgarden-esque solo mid-song, but alas, this never happened.

Singer Rozz Nash writes songs about failed relationships, which is just a bit cliche. They were a talented bunch, with heavy chord progressions, and a steady rhythm section, but Nash’s baby girl vocal styling wasn’t really fitting the mold of the music all that well.

The crowd did seem to love them quite a bit, though. Watching bearded “hippies” (who assumingly came out for Rythmship) head bang and jump around, in place of twirling around aimlessly, was well worth the price of admission in itself.