Breakestra + Support // Concorde 2 // 22/11/09

Breakestra

A rainy Sunday night in November may not seem the ideal time for a storming bundle of funk and soul but no surprises really that the fine men from Playgroup did not disappoint.  Arriving windswept and drenched is not the way I would have chosen to begin my evening, but nonetheless, the Concorde was bordering on full, and fiery support from The Impellers and Brighton based The Grand Majestic soon had the place getting their soggy feet into gear.

The main event opened up with front man Miles Tackett on the microphone, whose vocals sit not uncomfortably next to those of any soul singer worth mentioning, which is not unimpressive, considering he’s a nice white boy from LA.  The raw groove continued unbroken as guest vocalist ‘Aphrodite’ took to the stage, where she remained, shakin’ her ass, for the next hour and a half.

The California based group set themselves apart from other ‘funk and soul orchestras’, largely by completely eradicating all the gaps from their set.  The endless parade of seamless funk largely consisted of breaks from their latest release ‘Dusk till Dawn’ but also included homages to songs from every great era of funk and soul music including James Brown, Sam and Dave and even (rather unexpectedly) Johnny Cash.

The sheer stamina that the band demonstrated on all fronts was stunning, playing for well over an hour and a half non-stop, with blistering solos, ceaseless groove and constant grin-inducing hip swinging led by the unbelievable Aphrodite.  When the evening came to a close amidst a positive sea of desperate desire for more, it was down to drummer Shawn O’Shady to inform us that it was down to the Concorde’s confused licence police calling a halt to proceedings.  I left as soaked in the funk-sweat as I had been by the rain upon my arrival.  Good times.

Words: Jon Waller