Tahuna Breaks have been making waves in New Zealand and emerging as one of the pre-eminent live acts to catch this year. Their Australian commitments mean they’ve been coming back to our shores on a regular basis, which is just as well as they certainly know how to get a party started. The Stepp Inn had already seen a night of some great support with the occasional smattering of live drum and bass, reggae, and ska, so when Tahuna Breaks hit the stage the venue was already packed.
From the outset they had some funky grooves to ease everybody into their set with help from the likes of tracks such as Empower Me (the first single from the new album) reflecting how frontman Marty Greentree feel about fatherhood. A feel-good reggae track with some nice rhythm guitars that flowed into elements of rock, all proficiently carried out by guitarist Tom Charleson, this had heads moving, and feet were sure to follow. Following on from this, Jonny on sax and Tim on trumpets provided some smokin’ horns to the funky number that evidences its roots in blues, with Marty’s gravelled voice thrown in a few Brownesque “WAOW”s along the way.
You don’t often get a sombre sounding reggae tune but Tahuna have achieved a soft and contemplative number with Real Life that, whilst retaining some funky elements, especially from James Winkle’s bass, convey a theme of going through hard times from the heartrending lyrics and longing sax. An upbeat, effects-driven ska number that made the people go from swaying to bouncing promptly followed. The momentum was kept up with debut album title track Reflections, a fast-paced bouncy reggae number that, after an atmospheric and soft bassy intro, really got going with Tim Gemmell’s drums really going for it and Tom’s guitar adding some smooth reverb to his soaring guitar.
Casually Acquainted really let the band cut loose with everyone giving it their all in possibly the funkiest big band track on the album. It could have been an early incarnation of James Brown and The JBs on stage, with Marty really exercising his vocal chords and the band swaying and grooving as one. The biggest single on the record, Voodoo, sounds like a modern reggae classic and gained a big cheer from the crowd. It’s a short, very tight little track with a great rhythm section reminiscent of some of Marley’s best, adding a fresh approach with uplifting drums and accompanying horns. If it wasn’t obvious who influenced this track, the band flowed directly and seamlessly into _Could You Be Loved? With Tom being dead on the money with the instantly recognisable riff and the rest of the band following suit.
After that they owned the crowd and so finished by milking the funk for all it was worth. There was real groove you could get your teeth into, with some juicy fat funk inspiring curious disco moves by some of the crowd on the floor. They’re possibly one of the largest bands to fit on the Stepp Inn stage, but they made a sound much bigger than their seven-strong turnout let on. With Adam Fuhr really letting fly on the keys, and James’s bass in full swing, all of the band were really giving it to the crowd and going out with a bang.
After a brief disappearance they wanted to get straight back into it and were eager to get into their encore, which went off with a screaming funk climax. The band jammed together and were obviously comfortable in each other’s abilities, flowing nicely from all out funk to some more laidback grooves and then back into it again. The Sex Machinewas a fitting homage to the Godfather of Soul and the perfect way to end the night.
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