It can’t be denied that there’s something going on across the Tasman Sea in terms of ‘roots music’ – but if you stop there, at the ‘file under roots music’ label, the there is a risk that you might miss the variety of what’s going on over there. Of course, variety implies that some of the acts are better than others, and not every Kiwi act can step out of the shadows of acts like Fat Freddy’s Drop and Shapeshifter. NZ band Kora, here on their first headline tour, took the opportunity tonight to show that the headline slot is one in which they can more than hold their own.
Of course, they had no shortage of assistance from those who went before them; Niche Productions, as is their wont, had put together a very tasty evening of light entertainment to warm us up. Simon Caldwell was at the helm for the first set, and if you thought that Simon was a slightly unusual choice for this gig, you need to see Simon out and about more. When it comes to DJ versatility in this town, Simon is the by-word, the watch-word and pretty much every other word (including the last word). When you’ve got Simon’s ears and technical skills, you can play anything and tonight we got a reggae-infused set with some straight funk and dub thrown in for good measure. Helped by a crowd who were in early and were there to dance, the music pulled people to the front of the Gaelic Theatre. The feeling started to build that there might be something special happening tonight.
That feeling continued when Budspells took the stage. Fronted by the commanding presence of MC Kye, and rounded out by a prowling trumpet player and Ants on laptop and assorted other kit, Budspells powered through a set that rumbled and growled through the badlands of hip-hop and dub. Having seen Kye with Wicked Beat Sound System (and indeed, the second track tonight was a great reading of their song Do The Things ) and with Ladi-6 when she toured recently, what struck me was that whenever he gets up on stage, the stage belongs to him and no-one else. Partly you can do that with charisma, but it helps if you can MC a little as well. Kye ticks all those boxes. Even when I’d moved up to the upstairs balcony at the Gaelic Theatre (having strayed too close to a chapter meeting of the ‘Australian Society of Dudes who Dance with their Elbows’ downstairs) I was still impressed by the way he was able to control both levels of the room.
I stayed upstairs for most of Kora’s set (I always feel a little bit Statler & Waldorf reviewing from the upper level, but the room was packed by this stage and it was nice to have some room to dance). Kora are a five-strong act, four of them being the Kora brothers, and they launched into Burning from their Volume EP as the first track, its irresistible reggae-grooves grabbing the immediate attention of the crowd. They grabbed Kye for their second track, and then started to build the noise some. And then some more. And then a little more again. With two guitars and a bunch of pedals, my inner rock pig was starting to growl very contentedly indeed.
Not being content with sticking to the instruments they stared with, Kora moved around some during the set; Laughton Kora put down the mike (and his guitar) and took on keys, shifting Brad Kora from bass player to vocalist, and Dan McGurer from keys to bass. The one Kora who wasn’t going to be shifted was Brad Kora on drums, but given that his frenetic drumming made him a pretty close approximation of what Animal from the Muppets would look like if Animal was able to keep super-tight drum’n’bass rhythms, I wouldn’t have been moving him either.
The set was a mix of songs from the Volume EP and material from a forthcoming album; I especially loved their second-to-last track which was a seething instrumental number that proved what a good riff can do in the hands those who know how to use it; and they carried that through to the finish. We then got a rocking encore (which would have featured some more Kye, had he been in the house) which finished with the band arm-in arm taking well deserved bows.
Kora aren’t Shapeshifter, or Fat Freddy’s Drop; but nor are they just another Kiwi roots act. They are Kora, and it was because they are that I was grinning from ear to ear as I left the Gaelic Theatre. And just for a change, my ears weren’t ringing after a Gaelic Theatre gig. Face, grinning, ears, not ringing; what’s not to like?
