Screwball Cabaret, PlugNPlay Studios, Milford Road, Reading Wednesday 11 January 2006.
"Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome! Fremde, etranger, stranger" sings the odd-ball compere in the musical Cabaret. A sentiment sustained in Reading's own monthly Screwball Cabaret night. While it's not at the KitKat Club with dancing girls in fishnets, the dimly-lit retro PlugNPlay studio, nestled among Reading's dark warehouses in Milford Road, provides a stellar night of burlesque musical entertainment with a modern alt twist. Pete and the Pirates are the first to catch the rays of the rotating disco ball on the ceiling. Sounding a little like Misty's Big Adventure teaming up with a xylophone-armed Arcade Fire, the four expressionless young men breeze through a raft of melodically-cute songs, employing a toy-like drum machine to replace their absent drummer. "We're just having a laugh you know" says Pete after a particularly laidback song. Their set tonight is intentionally pared-down to fit the cabaret mould, so no blasts of power tonight, more of a fantastic sing-song around an electric camp-fire. Almost immediately in the second, larger room, funky soul troupe Kaldera kick-start the subtle hip-shaking in the crowd. They certainly need the larger room, and could do with a larger stage, what with the brass section vying for space with the singer and bassist. No matter though, the sound is great and above all highly professional. They cruise through mellow grooves and music to sup cocktails by. Frontwoman Debbie Howard belts out sleek notes that almost take physical shape before the stage. In particular Jake Goss from the USA plays a mean sax, and their penultimate song, a new one provisionally dubbed Song Five, features some great seventies wah wah playing from the bassplayer. Continuing the eclectic music thread, we're treated to some comedy hillbillie songs from Damien A Passmore. Now, the night before I enjoyed some real country singing from Corb Lund so seeing this loveable fraudster at play doesn't quite rev up my tractor. Using redneck cliches, Passmore strums his guitar, singing of a brother and sister wedding and songs of "going to spend the rest of my life with Louise and Anna". It's all very entertaining and the lyrics would fit in a Two Ronnies show, though best listen to the real thing if you like the music. Now, last time I saw Six Nation State, the gig ended up in a debaucherous pile-up on stage. Tonight the normally energetic young men on invisible pogo-sticks are sitting down, like Duracell bunnies who've finally run out of battery power. This means that we can concentrate on their music rather than flailing hair - and it makes a nice change actually. There is still the beefy ska and sloping reggae rhythms in songs such as Country Song ("about a Jamaican lady's t**s"). It's easy for white men to dissolve into a meltdown of cod reggae, but these lads have such raw unpolished power that they pull it off nicely. In fact, it's Russian Reggae cos they can't resist Kosak-dancer 'Hey! Hey! Hey!" shouts. Bold frontman Gerry roars like a male Janis Joplin and drips with confidence. Ones to watch for 2006. After Pete and the Pirates' second set it's time for the headliners, Pure Reason Revolution. It's a rare acoustic performance from the Sony/BMG-signed Reading band and we're all curious how their astral music full of burgeoning bleeps and spacey instruments will sound with just guitars, a keyboard and bongo drums. Well, it sounds amazing. More focus on the choir-like harmonies and uplifting verdant melodies makes this music other-worldly. Opening song, single Apprentice Of The Universe floats, forth with such serenity that even 'a capella' would go down well here. Unfortunately their 20-minute set ends all too soon and they walk off during what the crowd at first thinks is the artifice of the encore ritual. The compere, a sort of Shane Ritchie with a mohawk, is as confused as the rest of us and encourages booing, but in truth the band's intention was only a set of that length. In all, Screwball Cabaret is one of the best nights I've been to in Reading - watch this space for news of the third one. |
