It’s a tough gig pulling a vibe from an almost empty dancefloor, especially when you have a name like Northeast Party House – you can imagine how much they’d rely on a back-and-forth exchange of energy from the crowd – but the night’s main supports pulled their socks up, got on with the job, and didn’t give a toss whether they were the only ones in the room flailing about like a flag made of wet cardboard. And that’s infectious. Their popping bass groove and heady synth versus ducking and weaving guitar minimalism, over white-boy funk beats got the floor fairly busy in the end, so, proper kudos.
As the curtains closed up and the effervescent Purple Sneakers DJs busted out their second in-betweener set, it became pretty clear this crowd weren’t dicking about anymore, and the bodies piled in for a show I’m sure we all predicted was going to be a real mover and shaker. You know what you’re getting with The Go! Team, for sure, but try telling your hips that. The curtains parted, and Ian Parton & Co., already on stage, smiled out at us, promptly launching into a stomping version of T.O.R.N.A.D.O. from their newbie (Rolling Blackouts), which was an instant highlight (especially the synchronised jumping over blasted guitars and horn samples).
Vocalist Ninja is somewhere between a rapper and a cheerleader, and should probably be sponsored by Energiser or something,: I reckon I saw her stop moving maybe once, and that was just to put in an earring someone from the crowd gave to her. With the kind of relentless high-octane good-time schtick The Go! Team serve up, though, they’d be selling themselves short with anything less.
The band instrument-hopped like crazy, with synth, guitar and drum duties changing hands like a crappy op-shop cardigan. Cute-as-hell drummer Chi Fukami Taylor virtually charmed the paint off the walls singing Ready To Go Steady, and the super smiley keyboardist/guitarist/glockenspiel player Kaori Tsuchida took on vocals for Secretary Song; I can’t remember who was playing the typewriter for that one, but it was hilariously apt and awesome.
Every single number was greeted with more cheering, whistling and relentless bobbing than can be explained (for crying out loud, I was bouncing in between songs), but the biggest cheer of the night was probably reserved for the still-disgustingly-powerful The Power Is On from their first album, which packs as much punch as it ever did.
And look, the new jazz isn’t much of a departure from the last two outings, and it could lead you to believe there’s no reason to keep seeing this unit, but carn sarn it, it isn’t tired either, and the relentless groove and snappy chants that get thrown down on new stuff like The Running Range is absolutely mind-boggling live. If you missed it, award yourself with a sad face. If you didn’t, y’all got rewarded with a fresh punch packed from an old friend, huh?
Loved: Always had a soft spot for the ’70s cop-show-esque Junior Kickstart, and the troupe busted it out at the start of the encore. It went fairly freaking off.
Hated: Not a lot. Mixing levels between samples and live instruments could have been a little more even, I guess. And the pillar! You know the one! Always the pillar!
Drank: Goat. It’s right there on tap, I can’t help it.
Matt Panag
