Judging by the crowd at Brand New Heavies at Toorak’s Trak Nightclub, Melbourne’s baby sitters must have been raking in the dough on Friday night. I’ve never seen a crowd like that at a funk event in Melbourne. The average age of the crowd was 40 plus, and although I’m no spring chicken myself, it was the oldest crowd I’ve been part of since Devo. Not that this is a bad thing; contrary, it’s great to see Melbourne’s mums and dads can get out amongst it and still know how to party!

The Trak is an awesome venue. The converted cinema is very large and open, very classy fittings and a crowd to go with it, and I was treated very nicely by the bar, door, coat room and security staff. I mention it because I’m the first to admit I’m a bit “street” (read as “daggy”). I love my hoodies and trainers and couldn’t tie a tie to save myself. I did make an effort though to dress up a little, as I heard the Trak was a little exclusive, and although I still felt very under dressed, I wasn’t treated any differently by the staff or patrons (the same cannot be said of some clubs down the road on Chapel Street).

I arrived, checked my coat and got my first very reasonably priced beer. For a classy joint, drinks are really well priced! They even have waitresses who wander about and serve you where you stand. Electric Empire had done maybe one song by this time, and although I had never even heard of the Electric Empire before, their soulful rhythms and great sound has made me very interested in tracking down their album. They’ve got that smooth, sexy sound, similar to Curtis Mayfield or Al Green. The single Always was a highlight, as was the Latin influenced percussion solo.

DJ Eddie Mac played some great funk and soul classics, including * The Bamboos, Gangstarr, James Brown* and Jamiroquai. Much of the crowd were singing along happily, and running into people they obviously hadn’t seen in ages. It was a little like a really cool and classy school reunion. Next up was Paris Wells. I thought this was an interesting choice of support act. Paris Wells is best described as a soul blues rocker. She has a fantastic voice on her, and her stage antics are amusing. But I couldn’t help but be reminded of a rooster as she strutted about on stage with her coiffed hair and feathered outfit. Some of her tunes were great. Let’s Get It Started (not a cover) is almost ska with its bouncy lyrics. Fuck Your Soul is intense. However, she just seemed a little out of place for the vibe of the night.

The Brand New Heavies came on after another brief interlude with Eddie Mac. However, it was apparent right from the start that the awesome sound we had for Electric Empire and Paris Wells was simply not happening for Brand New Heavies There was a problem with Simon Bartholomew’s wahwah pedal right from the beginning, and it simply didn’t sound right for the entire night. N’Dea Davenport also had difficulty with feedback from her microphone. This meant the band didn’t sound as tight as a funk band should, and to me it was a little disappointing.

This didn’t dampen the spirits of the band nor the crowd. After all, this was the Heavies’ first ever tour of Australia having started in 1985 after becoming popular in 1990. We had waited almost 20 years for this, and everyone was singing and dancing along and having a fantastic time. They performed plenty of their hits, including Midnight at the Oasis, Mind Trips and Dream On. Jan Kincaid sure knows how to play the skins, and I always love it when a drummer takes lead vocals. Andrew Levy looked funky in his sparkly top and dark sunnies as he showed exactly why slap bass is the best way to play the 4 stringed guitar. N’Dea hasn’t lost any of her spunk either.

I was lucky enough to go to the Saturday night performance too, and the sound was perfect for the Brand New Heavies the second time around. They truly shone on Saturday night, and any disappointment was washed away. Highlights of the second show included the band’s solos, which were perfect the second time around, particularly Simon’s wahwah, and the encore with the whole crowd chanting the refrain “whoa year” of their last song until they came back and did an unrehearsed but brilliant version of Forever.

Sure, waiting 20 years to experience to see a band live can dampen even the highest expectations, and I’m not going to say Friday night was a dud by any means, as the band performed brilliantly despite the sound issues. But any worry they might have lost it vanished the moment they came out for the second show, and I can honestly say the Brand New Heavies are one of those bands who are truly amazing live, and they’re up there amongst the greatest funk orientated bands I’ve seen. They said they’d be back in 2011, so if you missed them this time around, don’t miss them next time!