Live Review- The Von Hertzen Brothers @ Assembly Hall Islington 05/04/13

Whilst a room attached to a town hall doesn't immediately look like it lends itself to being a venue for a rock gig, Islington’s Assembly Hall gave the event a sophisticated atmosphere.

Opening up the proceedings were Barbe-Q-Barbies, a Finnish all-girl rock band. This seemed like an odd choice in comparison to the other two acts- playing more straight-up rock and roll with a mixture of punk and glam thrown in for good measure. Their set was fast paced and full of energy, with no frills attached. 

When Haken took to the stage with their complex and highly involved music, the atmosphere became more serious. With their faces set in concentration, it was still plain to see that they were revelling in their constantly evolving and changing music. The music, which took ideas of progressive rock and metal music, with the added element of instrumental Jazzy, circus-metal breakdowns, during which the singer- following on the tradition of Jazz musicians- left the stage to allow the instrumentalists to have the full glare of the spotlight. The band’s high level of musicianship was shown by their use of more unusual guitars- 7 strings and 8 strings, along with a 6 string bass, which added to the texture and range of the music. Debuting a new track which went down well with the audience, the constantly changing time signatures still ensuring that people trying to keep up with the music were kept on their toes.

The Van Hortzen Brothers’ set took in many tracks from their latest album, Nine Lives as well as tracks from their earlier releases. Live, the Von Hertzen Brother’s showed that intelligent music does not have to be flashy or ostentatious, which allowed them greater freedom of movement on-stage, whilst still playing intricate parts and taking full use of the vocal harmonies which are part of their trademark sound. Highlights of the set included an electric performance of the lead single from Nine Lives, ‘Flowers and Rust’, which proved to the audience that underneath the intricate and exciting effects played on an old fashioned Moog synthesiser, The Von Hertzen Brothers are still most certainly a rock and roll band.

(All photos Nick Webb, 2013)

Howarth's Chiltern A900 Alto Saxophone

    The first thing that people comment on about this sax is the way it looks. And that’s before they hear the way it sounds. The matte, dark lacquered body with green mother-of-pearl keywork means that this saxophone really turns heads.

Having played this horn exclusively for the past four years, gigging it regularly and playing a wide variety of styles: classical, jazz, rock, funk, strange experimental fusion… I can say this sax can handle it all. The tone is clear as a bell, allowing for piercing high-register sounds and growling lows. Each note which comes out of the instrument is distinctive, allowing fast passages to sound like a series of individual notes, rather than a wash of sound. The action is incredibly light, so little or no effort is needed to press down the keys, and makes playing faster passages all the easier. Tonally, this horn is extremely flexible, giving off a warm, rounded sound, suitable for flowing, slow classical passages as easily as a rawer, raunchy sound, perfect for funk and rock styles. There can be a few issues with control over large leaps and longer low notes, leading to occasional unwanted harmonics.

The vintage finish on this horn is surprisingly robust and, despite four years of hard service, shows little in the way of every day dings and scratches which other instruments collect in day to day use.

This sax is incredibly light-weight, making for very comfortable playing, and meaning that carrying the horn around is a lot less effort with many other, similar quality horns, which is fantastic for touring and gigging musicians. The horn comes in a snazzy zip-up, hard shell case, moulded closely to the body of the sax. This closeness does mean that there is no room for any of the extras which anybody keeps in their cases- spare reeds have to be kept to a minimum, and your sling has to be kept inside the bell of the saxophone. The case itself, whilst strong enough for standard use, does scratch and graze with any unusually heavy duty use. The hard shell is quite thin which means that some deeper grazes feel like they have cut quite close to the inside of the case.

Overall, I love this horn. It has everything that the modern player really needs. An easy playing instrument which can handle any genre and survives the rough and tumble of heavy use and being thrown into the backs of vans and cars, this is a professional standard horn which is very competitive in its pricing.

(Played using a Mayer Rubber Mouthpiece, Rovner “light” leather ligature and Vandoren Jazz 3 ½ reeds)

8/10

King Porter Stomp- The Shuffle

King Porter Stomp, an ever-expanding band from Brighton offer a seemingly ever-changing mixture of Ska, Dub and Hip-hop. Bringing a new look and interesting take on these genres, King Porter Stomp show here the sheer range of styles and grooves that they can use. From the Dance-y Ska number of the title track “The Shuffle”, to the sophisticated, laid back groove of “Let it all Out”, to the Latin-edged raver that is “The Last Bat Train to Cuba.”  

The opening number “The Shuffle” shows off a little bit of everything the whole album has to offer, mixing a heavy, funky beat with Ska-based horn lines and a rapid-fire, machine-gun lyrical style.  The track keeps building and dropping throughout, retaining interest and bringing the track to a point where it all has to break down to a heavily danceable groove.

This shows exactly how the rest of the album continues, complete with a barrage of funky riffs, dirty grooves, and an aware, relevant and critical lyrical style. The way in which the album is ordered shows awareness for the styles, offering a mix of upbeat anthems and chilled out tracks.

King Porter Stomp have only been growing in the last year, both in terms of band members and in audience size, and should only continue to do so. With regular packed out gigs and large festival performances which go from strength to strength, spreading the word of this brand of good time music to an international audience.

7/10

Smerins Anti-Social Club- Primordial Cordial

Whether it is upbeat instrumental Ska-based, highly danceable funk, or if it’s an arrangement of a famous TV Theme remade in a completely unexpected fashion, there’s seemingly nothing that this collective can seem not to be able to play.

This nine-piece group of instrumentalists take influences from wherever they can, collaborating with a wide range of underground vocalists from all across the South of England. The sheer range can be heard in the way that the main guest vocalists on the album are Nuala Honan, a soulful singer, who’s powerful vocal chords create an added melodic layer to the already complex melodies of the group as a whole, and Dizraeli who lends his culturally aware, critical, occasionally scathing and satirical style of underground rapping to a ska-based backing. Whichever any one person prefers is irrelevant, as both vocal styles, and any others in between, work incredibly well with the music. The plurality here can best be seen with the Swing-inspired track “The Alibi”, featuring Nuala, and Celebrate (A Vague Recollection of a Tw*t) which stars Dizraeli, both showing off the incredible talents of these two stand-out vocalists.

Other highlights include a Dub-Ska rendition of Doctor Who (Yes, the theme from the television show) which, featuring Tenor Fly, is a great, chilled out groove with a heavy beat which drives the whole track forward.

Not only is the music this band produces high energy stuff, but their shows also show the quality and enthusiasm that the band produces, packing out clubs with crowds of energetic, enthusiastic supporters dancing the night away.

8/10