Tim Rogers and the Bamboos, Friday 3rd July 2015

• Email

Details

Parent Category: Culture

Category: Music

Created: Monday, 06 July 2015 23:23

On Friday night I had the pleasure of seeing the Bamboos play at the Gov in Adelaide. A little before ten the Bamboos took the stage and with very little preamble launched into S.U.C.C.E.S.S, also the opening track of their new album ‘The Rules of Attraction’. This marked the third time I saw them perform live.

The Bamboos are a (currently) 9 piece Soul/Funk bank formed in 2000 and have released 7 studio albums. I came to the Bamboos late in their career with the release of their 5^th album ‘Medicine Man’ in 2012 through a performance at the Gov. That performance and Album were enough to make me a fan and enticed me to see their 2013 tour at Womadelaide with Tim Rogers (You Am I).

‘The Rules of Attraction’ is their 7^th Album, a full collaboration with Tim Rogers that is very catchy with some great beats that arise hours later as you are doing something else.

The show was excellent, with vigorous and impassioned performances. Rogers dominated the show, leading the audience through the performance with his unique style. This is a double edged sword in my opinion as Rogers often drowns out the superb vocals of Kylie Auldist. Although there were a few tracks where Rogers left the stage and allowed the audience to witness her passionate soulful voice unhindered which almost stole the show.

The Bamboos are one of those groups that engage the audience through performance, managing to keep most moving throughout without having to tell them ‘get up and dance’ or ‘clap their hands’. This is a great talent that I see very rarely in live gigs where bands seem to need to goad their audience into action. And that is why you can’t deny the fun with songs like ‘Lime Rickey’ or ‘Easy’, and when the band celebrates each member with a cascade of solos your hands just need to applaud.

One of the things that you need to get used to is that The Bamboos are a band that experiments with their sound, and collaborate with a variety of artists, so you never quite know the show you will get, but you can guaranteed it will be a good one.