Review: The Go! Team
The Go! Team, Millennium Music Hall, February 27th 2011
Fans of bands whose names contain punctuation marks were in for a treat on an otherwise sleepy Sunday, as Brighton’s The Go! Team descended upon Millennium Music Hall to play the final show in their current UK tour.
Support act Banjo or Freakout kicked the night off with a capable, but by-the-numbers slice of post-rock pie. Though it has devolved into something of a catch-all term, part of the joy of post-rock is in the build, and the payoff: a gentle, somewhat windswept stroll along a deserted beach ends as a tsunami of crashing cymbals hits the listener in the face. Explosions in the Sky do this very well indeed; Banjo or Freakout didn’t seem to get going, and when they did, the song ended abruptly. “Where was my tsunami?” asked an unidentified audience member. Probably. It didn’t help that the crowd’s attention was set upon the frenetic drunken dancing and air-guitar of a man who, for the purposes of this anecdote, will be referred to as Strongbow Stu. Sadly, Strongbow Stu was taken from us early, waylaid by four sausage-fingered meatheads (a.k.a. bouncers), each three times his size, and escorted from the premises.
So, after an inauspicious start to the night, The Go! Team really needed to kick things up a notch to send the crowd home happy, and there was some trepidation in the air. When their Mercury-nominated debut album, Thunder, Lightning, Strike, hit in 2004, The Go! Team were a breath of minty-fresh air; their mix of straight-ahead crunchy garage rock, the type of brassy funk that wouldn’t be out of place in a Blaxploitation pic, and a blend of old-school hip-hop and playground-style chants hip-hopscotch, maybe was brought together by an over-arching pop sensibility. But that was then, and this is now. The highly-touted Braids and Sleigh Bells are currently treading a similar path of sugar-coated chaos to much critical acclaim, whereas 2007’s Proof of Youth was a slightly disappointing follow-up to the Brighton-based sextet’s debut. Furthermore, music that features such a heavy emphasis on samples is often hard to translate into a live performance.
Any fears were obliterated when The Go! Team invaded the stage, setting the pace with the colossal T.O.R.N.A.D.O. To call their performance energetic would be a gross understatement, as most band members must have swapped instruments at least 5 or 6 times. It was great to see Ross Noble-lookalike, Ian Parton, literally jumping out from behind a drum kit to play harmonica. Other instruments utilised by the band included glockenspiel, banjo (curiously absent from their support act’s set), steel drum, and typewriter.
Aside from infectious new single Buy Nothing Day, from their current LP Rolling Blackouts, the highlights of the gig were undoubtedly the old favourites from Thunder, Lightning, Strike. Huddle Formation, The Power Is On and a blistering rip through Junior Kickstart went down incredibly well. Frontwoman Ninja the process of nuclear fusion captured in human form deserves much of the credit for whipping the punters into a frenzy; if the rafters of Millennium Music Hall weren’t already rattling, the boisterous, high-kicking rapper/singer had everyone shaking their booty, jumping up and down, and waving their hands in unison. Not at the same time, but it’s a safe bet that if Ninja wanted them to, the crowd would’ve complied.
2 Comments – Post a comment
Tyezer
Commented 63 months ago - 5th March 2011 - 19:16pm
I was at the gig too, it was double aces! This is a great review WaywardSon, you managed to capture the atmosphere of the gig really well. I loved The Go! Team's earlier stuff too and after that gig I'm definitely a new born fan :)
hOOtaMammy
Commented 63 months ago - 7th March 2011 - 22:37pm
Noooooo!! bummr i missed it. So close too, mate of mine got hold of two tix but stiffed me in favour of another dude. bosh! nya well, this review ROCKS!!! You got it going on Mr Wayward dude. hugz from Hoots x