Fat Freddy's drops a bomb @ AB

At first it seemed that the 'AB' wouldn't be completely filled, but already after the first song both the hall and balconies were totally full. The concert had started at 20.30 sharp (which is standard custom in the 'AB'), whereby a lot of people missed the first song, which was, inevitably, 'Blackbird', the first song of their album of the same name, which appeared in the middle of this year.  The intro of the song reminds me every time of  'Lamb's Bread Collie', by Light of Saba, the mysterious band revolving around saxophonist Cedric "Im" Brooks. Just like that song, from 1978, 'Blackbird' starts with an easy 'nyabinghi'-rhythm and a subtle brass section. At that time it became so quiet in the 'AB' you could hear a pin drop. Suddenly the 'nyabinghi'-rhythm stops and only the piano is playing. A first shiver goes through the audience, and when the beats and vocals start no one is standing still. The soft, tuneful voice of singer/guitarist Dallas Tamaira, a.k.a. "Joe Dukie", instantly sounds very familiar and doesn't  get boring for one single second. From the beginning it's striking that the three members of the brass section ( trumpet, saxophone and trombone) are much more prominent live than on the studio albums. Solos will continue to bombard our ears for the next two (!) hours and at the end of 'Roady', possibly the biggest hit of the New Zealand band, they deliver a guitar solo which would have been much appreciated by many hard rock fans.  

'Fat Freddy's Drop' brings a mix of different genres, and they're not afraid to switch during a song. For example the slow 'Russia' transformed , almost unnoticeable, into an up-tempo ska towards the end; and even more and rapid tempo switches in 'Silver and Gold'. 'When I open my eyes', with its 'soul'-like groove was one of the calmer songs of the set: just guitar, keys, vocals and of course Chris Faiumu, beating heart of the band, behind the MPC. But even then they didn't stay calm for an entire song: after five minutes the brass section reappeared on the stage and so this song too got a fitting climax. 

During the entire show the band keeps working towards these kind of climaxes, but also anticlimaxes, for example in the easy going 'Soldier', for which they even bring up a tuba. Again and again the song seems to break loose, only to fall back to the same rhythm while Chris Faiumu ( DJ Fitchie) keeps working miracles from behind the buttons and gives the show a few extra dimensions. 

After that the band doesn't slow down any more. With 'Mother Mother' they start a 'trance'-like groove which flows into pure techno, and ten minutes later into raw funk music through which the brass section plays one solo after another while Joe Dukie takes his own voice through the loop machine. Meanwhile the trombonist is beyond all shame and brings up his 'best' dance moves (picture the hilarious ' What is love?'-sketch with Jim Carrey). The applause afterwards was overwhelming, but fell into nothing compared to the deafening cheering after 'Shiverman', their closing song. This was by the way the only song we heard in Brussels from their second studio album, 'Dr. Boondigga & The Big BW'. Once again there was a very long build-up towards a gigantic apotheosis in which it became apparent only after a few minutes which song they were actually playing. When such a song eventually ends, it feels like turning sober. Unfortunately there came no encore after the, very danceable, 'Shiverman'. The band wanted to play on, but like so often the tight schedule of the 'AB' didn't allow this. 

So this performance had nothing bad at all? No, we thought the raps from the "8th Freddy", MC Slave, during "Russia" and "Roady" to be mediocre. And of course we would have liked to hear songs like 'Pull The Catch', 'Breakthrough' en 'Midnight Marauders' live. Next time!