Iranian born Paris resident and Warp Records affiliate Lafawndah opened up tonight's preceedings at Manchester Gorilla. It was a minimalist set, with just her on vocals to a backing track. The backing track played bass heavy grooves with an occasional funky twang, but mostly the sound was UK R&B inspired, with a slight pinch of that signature Warp Electronica.
Lafawndah came out to a quiet crowd with muted lighting and launched into her first song, sounding like French lyrics. Throughout the set it sounded like she would swap between English and French lyrics. She had a sway to her and a sensuality in her husky vocals. She weaved in and out of the sometimes wonky beats with a jazz influenced flow. After the second song the lights kicked in properly and pounding, shuffling bass hit the Gorilla stage. Lafwandah's energy increased throughout the show. There were definite Bjork vibes, not only in the choice of beats that had a "Human Nature" style, but the tone of her voice and the way she used her voice showed definite comparison.
Whilst I enjoyed the first couple of songs, as the set went on there wasn't a whole lot of variation in the sounds. With just a backing beat and vocals, not only was it a little too minimalist to hold up for 40 minutes, but it left very few surprises in store. For a live show, more was needed to flesh out the performance and mix things up. A live DJ or Electronic musician at the helm could have added more of a live feel. Lafawndah felt detatched from the music in a way, with no major effects used or different styles and tempos covered to mix things up. Also other than being on the same label as Squarepusher & Shobaleader One, there was next to nothing in common with the headliner's sound, making her not a fitting choice of support. Whilst at first the crowd seemed enthusiastic, the interest noteably waned as her set went on and some people in the crowd turned away and started chatting. 6/10.
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After a teasing drone intro, a quartet of ninjas appeared from the shadows and took their instruments. For those who don't know yet, Shobaleader One is a live band formed by Tom "Squarepusher" Jenkinson in 2009. They all dress up in black cloaks, wearing masks that bare constant flashing lights that change to the mood of each song. Squarepusher himself performed on stage, being an accomplished virtuso bass player. Shobaleader One played a mixture of their own material, and threw in some Squarepusher classics, re-arranged for instruments.
Shobaleader One opened their visually spectacular show with a dub influenced bass heavy grooving track. They then launched into a lively rendition of Squarepusher's "Cooper's World", with the track reinvented beautifully as a Jazz-Funk 70s Blaxsploitation cop chase scene rendition! Throughout the show they played very Jazz-Funk orientated grooves. Their keyboardist added Electronic sounds, but it was much more natural sounding than Squarepusher's signature output. In particular it leaned far less towards his wild Drum N Bass/IDM sound and closer towards his Fusion sounds of the "Music Is Rotted One Note" and "Ultravisitor" albums.
Shobaleader One played a diverse set with a sound reminiscent of Jeff Beck's "Blow By Blow" and "Wired" Funk-Fusion period, and Miles Davis' Psychedelic Funk Jazz of the early 70s. Squarepusher and his insanely talented friends successfully showcased the crazy erraticness of Squarepusher's solo work, combined with rich, down to earth virtuoso playing that for the musicians in the crowd must have been absolutely mindblowing. Rarely have I seen such unbelievably talented musicianship before my very eyes. Shobaleader One are incredibly tight. Squarepusher was even doing insane tapping solos and slap bass, making me wonder why he isn't regarded as one of the world's finest bass players more often (keep an eye out Les Claypool!) The drummer also was an absolute beast, with lightning fills, constantly shifting time signatures and tempos and so much energy. Their drummer successfully managed to take IDM electronic beats and bring them to a live kit.
The greatest impression that Shobaleader One left tonight, was that they proved themselves to be one of the tightest, most insanely talented and well organised bands on the planet... And yet they were constantly exciting and played with a real freedom and groove. The fact that these 4 men are able to perform for nearly two hours, some of the most technically demanded playing, whilst dressed in black robes, and wearing masks that had multicoloured flashing lights right in front of their very eyes is next to impossible! But they did it flawlessly, and it looked like the entire crowd was blown away and left gobsmacked. Squarepusher has a very good and vast discrography behind him, but I think when this man performs live he takes it to a whole other level. Warp Records is still a hotspot of true innovation in music, and this will surely go down as one of the best live shows of the year in Manchester! 10/10.
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May 6th 2016 @ Gorilla, Manchester.
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