Friday,
May 23, 2003 15:19 BST
Fingathing |
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| Fingathing
(Photos: Janey Nicholls) |
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A
scratch DJ and a classically-trained double bass player might not
immediately seem like the finest of unions, but as Ben Mirchell discovered,
Fingathing soon won over any doubters at their recent Orange Rooms
gig. |
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Remember
those
dreary music lessons you used to dream through in school? On Sunday
night at the Orange Rooms in Southampton, Fingathing showed that maybe
we should start taking a little more notice.
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| Fingathing's
Peter Parker |
Careering
through crazy breakbeats and bass-breaking hip-hop, via a generous
dose of lush atmospherics, DJ Peter Parker and his bass-playing partner
Sneaky brought an expectant Sunday crowd to its knees.
Much of that crowd perhaps came unprepared for the visceral spectacle
that Fingathing are able offer. Hip-Hop is so often beset by macho
posturing and attitude that it can descend into inadvertent pantomime,
but the pair let loose with the perfect remedy.
Armed with a wonderfully open Mancunian charm and a lethal clutch
of their own tunes, many of them taken from recent album, Superhero
Music, Fingathing soon worked the crowd into a sweating frenzy.
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| Fingathing's
Sneaky |
Listeners
warmed immediately to the virtuosity of Sneaky's throbbing bass, and
who can blame them. A diminutive guy in a flat cap playing a space-age
double bass doesn't exactly fit the usual template for a Sunday night
out. Or any other night for that matter.
Throw in a high-quality DJ scratching up the dirtiest chunks of funk
and reworking it into something rare and edgy, and suddenly you understand
why the whole symbiotic partnership of the two gels so seamlessly.
It's almost like the decks and the bass are baiting each other, constantly
trying to outdo the other, break after break. This unspoken rivalry
is what pushes the duo to produce a live performance bursting with
unrivalled energy.
Chris Drury's chaotic and surreal visuals, beamed onto a giant screen
behind Sneaky and Parker, are the perfect compliment to the duo's
compellingly original sound, and the innocent delirium of their set
leaves even the most stoical audience members intoxicated.
Next month sees the Stanton Warriors at the Orange Rooms, while big
guns Groove Armada and Basement Jazz are provisionally booked for
DJ sets later in the year. So for now kids, it's not a Southampton
thing. It's a Fingathing.
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BBC Southampton Website
Broadcasting House,
Havelock Road,
Southampton
SO14 7PU
(+44) 023 80 374370/1/2
southampton@bbc.co.uk
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