Fat Freddy's Drop @ The Tivoli, Brisbane (27/03/2009)

Only good things had come out of their Adelaide and Melbourne shows, so the Brisbane crowd were expecting nothing less than a very special night of funk/soul/dub/reggae goodness. The seven-piece from Wellington have been making a name for themselves as one of the tightest live bands plying their trade on either side of the Tasman at the moment. It’s clear from their earliest days that Fat Freddy’s Drop wanted to define their sound on stage rather than in the studio, which is why, after their first live release Live at the Matterhorn, it took them four years to finally give in and release the massively successful Based on a True Story. Now, another four years on, the fans are almost chewing their own arms off for the release of their second studio album Big BW.

By the size of the queue snaking its way along the outside of The Tivoli, it was going to be a busy night for the barstaff, and sure enough, as one of them later told me, they hadn’t had as busy a night as this in a long time. Rightly so; after a hugely successful UK tour where they played some big venues ala London’s Roundhouse, and the Manchester Academy, I was expecting the support a little closer to home to come out in force.

The support set the scene and had already filled out the floor when those unlucky enough to have to spend half an hour in the ATM queue finally got their drinks and made their way to the floor. That scene was one of love, as is the case at most gigs that has beautiful NZ dub on display. Couples around the venue were lost in each other and the rest of us were grooving to the chilled out mood.

Everyone united in one rapturous mass when Fat Freddy took the stage, dressed to the nines and looking smoother than warm chocolate. The crowd were almost immediately won over with the effortlessly soulful Ernie, that had people swaying all the way through the build and bouncing when the reggae climax kicked in. In fact that was the order of the night; the smooth and chilled out rise came on suddenly and then the funky peak hits and you have a room bouncing as one.

This was no better demonstrated than with arguably Fat Freddy’s biggest hit Wandering Eye that they laid down relatively early on in the set and when the instrumental climax of the track hit, much of the Tivoli bounced as one satisfied being. The seamlessness of their transitions never fails to amaze as the band don’t simply play a track, enjoy the applause, and move on. Not content with the stop/start nature of an average set, their order of songs and how they approached them reflected the liquid nature of the music.

One personal highlight of the night was a very extended version of The Nod, a song that is so crammed full of funk that you feel cooler just for being in its presence. It also gave the horn section consisting of Ho Pepa on trombone, Fulla Flash on sax, and Tony Chang on trumpet an opportunity to display their individual talents. Indeed a Fat Freddy kind of set is so laid back it gives everyone the freedom to play around with each track, whilst keeping its heart and soul still there throughout.

As never goes unnoticed at a Fat Freddy’s gig, special mention must be made to Ho Pepa, whose enthusiasm and sheer madness keeps everyone entertained. I’ve never seen a man so at one with a trombone that he can throw around in fits of maniacal dance and not smack a fellow band member in the face, a straw visor, and a blindingly gold jacket. This man is something else and shows off the possibilities of just how much you can get down with your bad self when pulling the best ‘Bad Ho Jell Roll’ moves around.

The night had had a distinctly up-tempo feel as there was very little pause for breath from track to track, but the tempo was brought down a notch or two with This Room. Fat Freddy turned it into a soaring 20 minute journey of smooth rhythms courtesy of drummer Riki Gooch, easy going and soulful bass thanks to Rio Hemopo, and production mastery at the hands of the infinitely gifted Fitchie on samples and beats and Dobie Blaze on keys.

Claimed to be their last song of the evening, everyone knew a white lie had been told and there was sustained applause and chants of “Freddy Freddy Freddy…” that would have gone all night if they hadn’t re-emerged for a beautiful rendition of Midnight Marauders. The kiwi funksters had looked like they’d been enjoying themselves all night and the encore was no different; every swayed in laid back unison and wrapped up in the evening as seemingly satisfied as the elated crowd.

It was unfortunate to not hear Roady laid down for everyone as it is possibly the most effecting when heard live, it was noticeably absent. The Tivoli had had some sound problems throughout the set so perhaps their system simply wouldn’t have been able to cope with such a fantastically powerful climax along with screams of “Fire!” coming from the backing vocals. Still, it’s impossible to fault such a solid band that are so comfortable with each other and confident in their abilities that with effortless funky soul they can produce one of the warmest and most nourishing of live sounds.

Bottom Heavy pres. Concord Dawn @ The Met, Brisbane (05/03/09)

It was going to be a long night, I knew this as soon as my eyes scrolled past the fourth act on the lineup and we still hadn’t got to the headliners yet. All in all there were going to be six acts on, which meant only one thing; by the time the night was over, you'd have lost half your body weight in sweat. I wasn’t sure what I thought of such a congregation of drum and bass being staged at The Met, but all of my fears were swept aside when I saw that they had closed everything off and left Coco the only area populated. This gave the night an intimate atmosphere. At DnB parties there are often a lot of people in a relatively small space and that’s half the fun, so this setup encouraged that kind of scene. Plus, the Coco booths are beautiful little nooks to hide away, despite what your opinion of the Met might otherwise be. So this was the most perfect use of the venue, with all the right people there listening to the right music.

Dank Morass DJs Swob and Danck were nearing the end of their set when we arrived, and it looked to have been a crowd winner as the cheers elevated, notably since the night was still so young. I had wanted to hear Danny T do what was billed a dubstep set. His origins have been in breaks and he is technically very gifted, so I wanted to catch what kind of techniques he would apply to dubstep. The result was a perfect blend of industrial grinding breaks that shook the amps with an easing, almost laidback, dubstep rhythm. The combination of these two seemingly opposite vibes resulted in a nice introduction to the night, one that was easy to bop your head to.

Then it was de la Haye and Operon’s time to shin, winning over the still relatively empty dancefloor. Bringing out their own little bit of progressive dubstep, de la Haye got the feet on the floor with a nice working of Graphic’s I Am Metal. The set was paced well enough to encourage the people to come out from the beautifully cushioned booths, all the while keeping people from going completely nuts. You could tell the crowd were going to be up for it; you don’t dedicate your Thursday night like this and not expect to let loose. De la Haye’s solid set and Operon’s well crafted tunes complimented each other, so it never felt like a ‘take-turns’ scenario. It was fluid and polished.

Sweeping aside the thought that Justus could possibly have been a Kiwi cover band of French electro Justice, I was keen to see what kind of time he and Aniki would give us for their half hour effort. It turned out to be the turning point of the night. They laid down more of a jungle vibe which moved the rhythm up a notch and started to fill out the dwindling empty spots on the floor. When a dubbed up verion of the Fugees classicReady Or Not was released, it somehow fit perfectly and had the crowd well and truly won over.

By 11.30 the floor was at capacity and even those with seats were on their feet, all thanks to beats that were dolling out energy and begging to be danced to. But it wasn’t until a Pendulum tune hit the dancefloor that people really started putting the effort in. It was undeniably a decisive moment in the night, and shifted the atmosphere, breathing new life into the people. Perfect, then, that the pace was carried on with some wonderful ragga DnB that made the room bounce as one. Erther and Dreadknowledge had the room well and truly lit, so they were prepared to keep up with the pace now set. All the more impressive, they managed to make some French Baroque sounds marry perfectly with a swift hardcore DnB base. They piled on the bass and made it run through your feet, keeping everyone on their toes for the forty five minutes they were allotted.

Finally, it was time for the act that had drawn so many people out on a school night, withConcord Dawn (aka Matt Harvey) opening to a great reception. He began somewhat modestly, but that was only to give his build up more time to nourish itself. When Broken Eyes came out it was used to its fullest effect. Concord Dawn have a great talent for giving their sound a real “live” feel, the most recent studio album used instrumentation to great effect and it’s this sound that was captured at the gig tonight, even though it’s only decks in play. Not content with just relying on Chaos by Design to carry the set, some Don’t Tell Me from 2003’s Uprising made sure nobody backed down from the floor. Those who were dancing were certainly up for it, and sometimes that’s better than having a full floor populated by lacklustre hangers-on.

At 2.20am, around five hours of dancing had been squeezed into one evening and I was almost ready to do as the song playing suggested and Fly Away Home. If only that song hadn’t been one of my favourites on the album, and a great example of liquid DnB in its own right. I cannot honestly recall exactly how the night ended due to a healthy mix of alcohol and delirium brought about by dedicating yourself to five hours of exertion at the hands of masterful drum and bass overlords. There was an all-in DJ brawl billed and whether this was a battle of turntable dubstep wizadry or an actual bloody fight to the death, I would never know… I had to afford some time for sleep so that I wouldn’t wake up the next morning a zombie. I left the die hards to their DnB battle royale and went home exhausted but freer for it.