It’s been a good while since I last attended a Skylarkin’ Soundsystems promotion. Past sessions have been fully correct and banging affairs. Tonight at the O2 was no exception.
The punters filed in to the eclectic sounds being spun by the promoter himself, Count Skylarkin’… Beautifully scratchy 7” vinyl sounds were the selector’s choice, incorporating ska, mento, reggae, dub, dancehall and calypso. The scene was set, and the crowd were more than ready for The Original Rabbit Foot
Spasm Band.
I can only describe their riotously brilliant set as a unholy melange of Louis Jordan, Stiff Little Fingers, Big Joe Turner and Ian Dury & The Blockheads, with the wry and tragicomedy lyrical observations of the best Squeeze and Ian Dury songs. Add some Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, Bessie Smith and the best kind of ramshackle, tight, loose, musical tension of P-Funk originators Parliament and Funkadelic, and you have liberating, unhinged abandonment, devoid of musical rules and regulations. Brilliant stuff.
“Are you ready for the Revolution?” proclaimed Ska Cubano frontman Natty Bo, looking dapper in an outrageously over the top outfit. After the wicked Rabbit Foot Spasm Band, this crowd was more than ready. For the next hour and a half, we were treated to a sun-kissed, joyful, uplifting, carnival-style revolution, with Natty Bo orchestrating proceedings with brilliant charismatic showmanship – a kind of August-Darnel-meets-Cab-Calloway, with a touch of reggae legend Yellowman. His energy levels are awe-inspiring; skanking, jumping, using up every bit of the stage with skill and ease.
We were taken on a musical journey by way of Jamaica, Cuba, pre-revolution Havana and Santiago, Trinidad, Panama and everything in between. Despite the fact that Ska Cubano reach back in time for musical inspiration, these musical mavericks definitely rock it in the here and now, with ragga riddims, electro-style bounce and Diplo-style B-Line breaks incorporated into the musical mix.
It would be churlish to single out any one individual for praise, so I won’t. Everyone one in the band displayed astonishing skill, evidenced by the wonderful solos, full of technique, soul and feel – their mightily infectious music should be packaged as a cure for depression. Special mention to O2 engineer Geezer, who created a brilliant sound tonight which, along with the evening’s entertainment, did much to lift my winter blues.
One final point: it’s about time we got a petition going demanding that The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band and Ska Cubano appear on the Later… with Jools Holland show. A perfect fit. Long overdue.