Live

Rip It Up, Issue 219, 1 November 1995, Page 44

Live

INCOGNITO Powerstation, Auckland, October 12.

Their opening number had an appropriate hookline: ‘Talking loud — and saying something!' Incognito were certainly loud — as you would expect from a full on,- 13-piece, hard driving band. What their astounding two hour set said to an ecstatic audience was that the virtues of highly sophisticated soul/funk with all the suppleness of jazz still triumph in today’s sample-sodden dance market. - - ■••■ J Incognito not only has a lineup that includes a three-man horn section — itself an increasing rarity in this synth-domi-nated era — but it boasts a vocal front line that recalls the legendary soul reviews of yesteryear. Not one, but four singers, (all black, three women), any one of whom we would have been perfectly happy with for an entire set. As it was, no sooner had we been treated to the delight of one than there was a change. Truly an embarrassment of riches. With the ferocious energy of the band and the wailing of the singers, Incognito sounded earthier, though no less supple, than they often do on recordings. Any sceptics who had reservations about the potency of English soul revised their attitudes.

Most of the material was drawn from the best of the band's most recent discs, Positivity and 100 Degrees and Rising, although they did reach back as far as 1981 for the

instrumental ‘Sunburn’, from the first album. This extended funk workout gave individual band members an opportunity to demonstrate their awesome musicianship. Otherwise, apart from the few who got to solo during the songs, this was very much a band that focussed on the power of the ensemble. No show-offs and no smart arses. An evening of superb musicianship, excellent material and stirring passion. What else is there? Opener Nathan Haines’ group showed they could also fire up a dynamic and intoxicating brew. Occasionally, however, the presence of the pre-recorded rhythmic bed allowed them a relaxation that bordered on boredom. PETER THOMSON WHITE ZOMBIE Auckland Town Hall, October 2. Starting at a jolly early time, the White Zombie crew ripped through their set as if they had a plane to catch. In fact, the early part of the set had plenty in common with airports. For the first couple of songs, Rob’s vocals bore an eerie comparison with a 747 taking off. The backing crew seemed to have it together, but for the first coupla numbers it may have been a White Zombie karaoke night, such was the wretchedness of the vocal mix.

Thankfully, Mr Rob Zombie’s vocals were back on track by the time ‘Route 66’ appeared, and it was time for everybody to get on down and shake their tushes, or booties, or whatever was on hand to shake. Whilst the crowd was boogying, Sean and Rob ran hither and tither and willy nilly all over the stage. One moment they’d be menacing the right hand speaker stacks, next Rob’s leaning over the front rail, while Sean looks as if she’s in training for a marathon, green hair a-flail-ing with the bass slung the only way it could possibly be — as low as it can go. Draped behind the drummer are two 40 foot pictures of cartoon ladies in a state of undress, off the La Sexorcisto album cover art work. Perhaps the reason the stage is decorated with them is because White Zombie have left their latest (and evidently jolly flash) Astro Creep travelling freakshow behind!!

\ > After what seems like not a very long time at all, Rob informs us that show time is almost at an end. But first it’s time to rip through a really grunty version of ‘Children of the Corn’, and the really good tune off La Sexorcisto (urn, you know, the one you always skip to on the album, aaaaaaaah, help me someone). / As White Zombie-wind up, a few brave souls decide to come down from above, via dangling off the balcony and gently plopping onto the ground. When White Zombie played their hits things almost seemed exciting enough to pop downstairs for a looksy (actually, I was downstairs), but at no stage did White Zombie show they could inspire the full on lunacy of leaping head first into the mosh pit from upstairs. More a head shaking good time than a neck breaking outburst of craziness. • KEVIN LIST FRIDGE CD RELEASE Hillcrest Tavern, Hamilton, October 5. Befitting the occasion, the weather gods turned on a chilly spring evening for the Fridge CD release. So, a couple of hundred misfits gathered at the Hillcrest Tavern, huddled together, and took in some of the Garden City’s finest music. The evening began well, with a few pleasant (and inevitably strange) ditties from the McGillicuddy-associated Big Muffin Serious Band. Fun to listen to, but more amusing to watch, they were an appropriate prelude to the mayhem which directly followed. Jim and Graeme returned to the stage throughout the night to provide the audience with entertainment and information, or to simply fill the void between bands. ■ Included in the line-up as MSU, Bob and the Stroke Victims . were in fact an MSU tribute band. Although some of the members bore striking resemblances to their original MSU counterparts, Bob and the Stroke Victims were unable to maintain the intensity MSU could. The insanity was there (although slightly diluted), and they played the hits, but ‘Rohan’ is obviously too ’muscular’ to fit into a green bodysuit (he sported a white lab coat instead), and without the hundreds of drunk student fans, they had not a hope of emulating the masters.

The Widdershins are like a modified version of the Puddle (the Widdershins’ Jenny and Ross are former members of the Puddle). But instead of the two litre engine that drives the aforementioned Dunedinites, the Widdershins are driven by a 1.1. Their synth made some cool noises, but was criminally under used.

Dean, tonight, were four guitarists and a Casiotone style drum machine. Their music is based on the repetition of simple guitar lines over the top of the plodding drum machine, and although it is rarely exciting, it is somehow strangely allur-

ing. The bulk of their set was taken up by an extended version of ‘Lose Track of Time', and it completely mesmerised most of the audience. Those that weren’t mesmerised were simply confused.

Following on from Dean were Inchworm, Hamilton’s premiere pop band. And it’s not hard to see why their music is so popular — strong musicianship (even though bassist Scott had shut the car door on his fingers earlier in the evening), interesting song structures, and nice melodies — everything good pop should be. So good, in fact, that it lured a large part of the audience onto the dance f100r...

...only to have them driven away by the Tsunami Band, whose guitars and keyboards approach to making music is not too dissimilar from that of the Abel Tasmans’, only not quite as good. They’ve been around for a while, and it shows. They're more than capable musicians, but their music is starting to sound dated — riot as relevant as it might once have been, and certainly not as appealing to the crowd. The dancing resumed, however, when Boil Up took over, and finished off the evening with some of their politics-heavy reggae/ska/pop. Soulful, tight, not overly inventive, but good enough to get a number of the dwindling audience moving — some the the message, others to the groove. Overall, the Fridge CD release was a good showcase of some of Hamilton’s most prominent (non-mainstream) bands, and an appropriate launch for the latest compilation of ’ Hamilton music. Better than doing the gardening. s GREG BAILLIE PHUNK REPUBLIC ESC, Wellington, October 7. . 1 . Live hip-hop often gets a bad rep in Wellington, but that's more to do with dodgy 'venues than anything else. Tonight Kozmo pulls it together and ESC is jammed. Headz are swayIng, the beers are flowing- arid its good to see hip-hop bringing together such a wide range of people.’ Rough Opinion thrived on the good vibes and rocked the spot with, a set of that included slow jams, party anthems and even a cover of the Dove Shack's 'Summertime in the LBC’, which, became ‘Summertime in the ESC’. ; " A good night, cheers to Kozmo, Leif, Rhys B, Raw, Jazz and all Ebony Beats that was in the house. ’ ■ ,A-. .A " ANDY

INFECTIOUS GROOVES, CYCO MIKO Powerstation, Auckland, October 18.

In one of those inexplicable moments, like that split second before a car crash when everything appears to slow down; this fuckin' huge dude descended in altered time towards the throng of moshing punters, having just launched himself off the PA, and in an act of solidarity that would’ve made Lech Walensa proud, they caught him! Yeah! It was a vision that impressed Infectious . Grooves’ bassman Robert Trujiuo as well, as he laughingly exclaimed post-gig: "That was the biggest muthafucka I’ve ever seen jump off a stack!” Earlier, Mike Muir had fronted Infectious Grooves under the guise of 'Cyco Miko', to air tracks (early Suicidal-type songs in the hardcore stylee) off his forthcoming ’solo’ effort. Lost My Brain! (Once Again). This featured a familiar line of vituperate rhetoric from the foreboding Mr Muir, ie., basically: ‘You can't bring me down, ’cause you're crazy, but I’m crazier, and I don’t care what a fascist control pig like you is saying, ’cause you can’t dictate to me, ’cause I’m the leader of my own destiny, and did I mention I was going crazy?' Later, with the IG, he reiterated these same points, but over a funkier groove that sounded surprisingly dated, given the style of the earlier material. I say check out the new album when it gains local release in early 96. GREG HAMMERDOWN BILGE FESTIVAL, LETTERBOX LAMBS Antipodes, Wellington, September 16. Remember the good old days, before discord ruled our airs? Some called it the great depression. Ahh, but we were happy in those days —no fax machines in this house. We all felt a lot happier about things, the weight of the world hadn’t turned our posture into the coast of Norway, and nose bleeds meant rough and tumble, not a stroke.

Well, world weariness left the tired bones when Letterbox Lambs rang out their youthful pearls of wisdom. They took the tired, the sick, the old, and with shining pop, gave hope to the new order. There have been some around town who have been raving about this band since they first listened to them. The ravers were justified. Perhaps it was a lack of the odd tinge of magic that accounted for the Bodega gig a while previous, but Letter Box Lambs still came through with what was needed at the time.

Their songs should all be Top 10 hits. They should all be played on music TV channels, all the members should be pro-

filed in teen magazines, and they should all have young women’s underwear thrown at them.

All this applies equally to Bilge Festival. But they are too scary, too powerful, and too downright cool to ever be included in the teen dream nightmare (real time, we’re talking of). Bilge Festival impress as either a full-on assault, with guitars blazing as if they were shooting at Bonnie and Clyde, or when possessed by the demon that causes law abiding, well-spoken citizens to stalk the stage, mic’ in hand, preaching to the willing — the general of the aural army, getting the troops hot before the revolution. . . Unable to be slotted into any category, Bilge Festival ground through their songs, churning, whipping up a storm of creative chaos overtop of melody lying just beneath the surface. Or perhaps you could file them under Fast Flashes of Energy, or Surges of Electricity. Okay, this band is good. They are better than good, Bilge Festival at their best are something to behold. Whatever your vocation or creed, get the chance and go see them, or buy the records. Like a dose of salts, it’ll go through you quick, and ’ make you feel a hell of a lot better afterwards. .:' ’ > -' A-' I . ■ DONALD REID DIRECTIONS IN GROOVE, NATHAN HAINES Powerstation, Auckland, September 30. .._ I wasn’t sure what to expect from Nathan, not having had the pleasure of seeing him live. I was, however, in Wellington when he played the infamous James Cabaret gig to 60 people.' Since then, his profile has increased, and in Auckland, at least, he has a deservedly solid fan base. Tonight he certainly gives them something to think about. Nathan and co start off with some down tempo grooves, setting the mood before drop- • ping a wicked song based around a big ole house beat. This inspired numerous punters to wander on to the dancefloor, little knowing what was next to come. ’ - , . I could hardly believe, it but Nathan and crew launched into a set of full on jungle jazz. Wicked! DJ Manuel Bundy dropped ■ jungle breaks and ragga samples, the bassist slung some heavy duty basslines, and the drummer joined in with some frenetic symbols and high hats. Nathan bobbed and weaved throughout the chaos on flute and soprano sax. Absolutely inspiring, challenging future jazz. These guys are out there.. See them soon.

DIG sure had a tough act to follow. They began with drummer Terepai playing a funky hip-hop beat, before he was joined one by one by the rest of the band, until all six of them were jamming to a packed dancefloor. DIG are crowd pleasing, as opposed to Nathan's crowd challenging, but they are awesomely skilled musicians and they delivered a strong set of up tempo jazz, including some wicked drum and bass solo duels. I wasn’t that impressed with the DIG album, but they kick it live.

In the meantime, Nathan, how about a Roni Size remix? ANDY

ON U SOUND: OUT OF CONTROL Powerstation, Auckland, October 20.

An On U tour and no Dub Syndicate? Well, it would have been nice. But hey, with Tackhead, Mark Stewart, Audio Active and Adrian Sherwood at the controls, who’s complaining? As we arrived, Adrian Sherwood was spinning some dangerous drum and bass heavy grooves at a bowel releasing volume to a spliffed out dance floor. I’ve never seen the Powerstation look so good: a full, intelligent lighting rig and big screen visuals complemented the music to great effect.

First up, Tackhead. Damn, these guys have come a long way from providing the backing tracks for Sugarhill records way back in the day. If ‘The Message’ was a timely reminder that society was rotten at the core. Tackhead reflect that things have just gotten worse... no real vocals, but plenty of samples provide something to get ya head around; such as my favourite, a sample of ‘New World Order’ which Doug Wimbish follows with “work for it”. Doug on bass was joined by rhythm king Keith Le Blanc on drums, and the legend that is Skip McDonald on guitar. Together, they laid down a barrage of awe some industrial-edged funk grooves. Did I see Doug and Skip swap guitar for bass after the first track? Tackhead were always going to be hard to follow, and although Audio Active and Mark Stewart were entertaining, they lacked the power and intensity of Tackhead. Audio Active are from Japan, and thus have a unique Asian take on dub. They took the stage in matching overalls, and played a fairly tight set of up front dub. The vocals, however, are largely lost through the combined wonders of a Japanese accent and the effects box around the vocalist's neck.

By the time Mark Stewart takes the stage, I'm feeling a little sozzled. He was backed by Tackhead, but after their earlier set, Mark was a bit of a letdown. I think the bands should have been in reverse order, but no complaints from me. Respect, Goosebump, for getting shit together. ANDY

JOE COCKER Aotea Centre, Auckland, October 20.

For almost three decades, Joe Cocker has had great experiences — separately or all at once — of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. As a result he looks much older than his 51 years, and to those more conversant with his history than myself, that once enthralling voice must sound ravaged beyond repair — but there’s no doubt he’s still singing with some semblance of its awesome power intact.

Such is his standing, he’d won the crowd over the moment he stepped on stage; but far from parading a tired, sanitised version of his former self, Cocker stood in the spotlight, and sung with the energy and abandon of one still hopelessly in love with the game. The big band numbers drew the most response and applause from the audience, particularly ‘Feelin’ Alright’, ‘When The Night Comes’, ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ and ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’, but it was painfully obvious that only Cocker’s pianist, bass player, and long-time drummer Jack Bruno really had a feel for what was going on. They were burdened with a guitarist and saxophone/keyboard player prone to indulgent, exaggerated, Nigel Tufnel-style solos, and though both looked hilarious, they often seemed to battle with Cocker for the lion’s share of attention.

It was during ‘Up Where We Belong’, ‘You Are So Beautiful’ and, the show’s best moment, a cover of John Hiatt’s ‘Have A Little Faith’, that it was most obvious Cocker’s voice could no longer scale the emotional heights, but these were the tunes during which he looked the most lost. With eyes clamped shut, he appeared to speak the lyrics with the fingers of his right hand, and move unconsciously in the same epileptic way as witnessed at Woodstock and on Ed Sullivan all those years ago. When Cocker played Western Springs in the early 70s, he failed to do an encore when, drugged to the eyeballs, he took a wrong turn backstage, then fell asleep beside the creek. Tonight he’s back on stage within seconds, laying out a ballad and a wonderful rhythm-driven knees-up, and showing clearly, despite all that ‘survivor’ crap, that he hasn’t forgotten real rock ’n’ roll isn’t served ‘on the rocks’. JOHN RUSSELL

MOVE THE CROWD Powerstation, Auckland, October 22.

With Cheap Sex, Retro-A-Go-Go and Kurtz Lounge’s Beach Party, Move the Crowd had a lot of competition. Still, the promise of hearing the finalists of the 1995 DJ Mix Championship (winner DJ Raw from Wellington) and a selection of local hip-hop managed to draw enough enthusiasts to fill about half of the Powerstation. Videos, DJs cutting up tracks, and breakdancing competitions, interspersed with live acts emceed by True Schooler Slave, made for a chilled out night, particularly for those of us that had caught the On U Sound gig a couple of nights before. 3 The Hard Way played a short, tight set of mainly new tracks, with style and enthusiasm. Their set was disappointingly short, but managed to get a few brave souls onto the huge empty dance floor. Unfortunately, as soon as they got any sort of vibe happening, their set was over. The Powerstation just doesn’t seem to be the best venue for Joint Force. Catching these guys on a good night is something not to be missed, but when faced with an expanse of empty dancefloor and a huge stage, they fail to come together with the atmosphere and intensity of their sets at smaller venues. Slave, OJ, and DLT were plagued by the odd technical difficulty, but put out a dope mix of bFM favourite ‘Nightmare Man’. Upper Hutt Posse came on fresh and fired, with D Word and Wiya kicking wicked, intelligent rhymes with a strong New Zealand flavour. Their energy, power and sheer charisma made them the band that blew all others off the stage. Respect to Nick D’Angelo for putting together a night that presented a good selection of New Zealand hip-hop, but a shame about the venue. The Powerstation just swallows people up, making any semblance of atmosphere evaporate. A much better time was had by those that caught the True School Hip Hop Show live to air at Kurtz a couple of weeks ago.

ROSEMARIE PAUL