This was one gig that I’d been excited about for sometime, and having been aware of the show for over a month had made it a very long wait indeed. Combining Sola Rosa with the vocal talents of Spikey Tee and than adding Sydney’s finest dance hall crew Basslines into the mix plus support from DJ Grabble, this would surely be a night to remember.

So I’m not quite sure what went wrong with the gig, as it had all the elements of a killer night yet some how it never quite reached its peak. The build up by Basslines and DJ Grapple was tasty and warmed the crowd nicely with a solid dose of reggae. Basslines are truly one of Sydney’s finest with it being a family affair: Louis runs the rhythms, his dad is on harmonica and his sister Gina holds down the mic with Janny from Rastawookie. So add this all up and you have a combination that can rock any dance floor. They build the vibe and the dancefloor, with people starting to fill out The Basement nice and early in the evening. If you did not know any better then you’d think that Basslines had written every track they performed which is a reflection of the quality of the crew and the solid performances they deliver. But if you’re familiar with dance hall and reggae then you would have recognised some of the tracks.

The stage was set for Sola Rosa to come on and smash the Basement in true Kiwi style, and having heard much about there performances at various festivals around the country this was exactly what I was expecting. Yet even when they started out in mellow-stoner groove fashion, I was still expecting the fireworks. Soon they where joined on stage by Spikey Tee, an MC from London who has been living here for a number of years and worked with groups like the Resin Dogs. I was expecting that his presence to surely ignite the fire, but instead we were greeted with a charming MC who told us of his jet lag after having just landed from London, and whose joke about sunshine missed its mark and failed to unite the crowd. Yet his voice is that of a soulful crooner while he has the demeanor of a rapper; on any given day I’d back him to rock a party in a B Boy Stance, but this just must not have been his day.

In terms of the band’s actual performance, it was hard to fault yet it still failed to blow me away. The rhythm section really held its ground and drove the vibe, but the music just seemed to plateau into solid grooveland. With lots of dubbing out and samples, the musicians where somewhat conducted by Andrew Spraggon with his lap top and effects unit. The tracks without vocals seem to fall on deaf ears as the crowd would loose interest and turn to talking.

I’m sure if there was any reason the band were off their game on this particular evening, and maybe I was just expecting something that Sola Rosa are not. I wouldn’t say by any stretch that I left feeling disappointed, just a little unsatisfied and a craving for more. I would like to see them again, and firmly hold onto the belief that Sola Rosa are yet another excellent band to emerge out of New Zealand.