But
for yours truly, on account of being a bit soft, the night was a little more
abbreviated than it perhaps was for many others in attendance. I caught the
full sets of Black City Lights and Race Banyon only, missing half of Eastern
Bloc, all of Kamandi, and most notably, the entire set featuring overseas
headliner Azizi Gibson. But it was Black City Lights and Race Banyon that drew
me there in the first place, I timed it to perfection, and those two mid-evening
sets were well worth the price of admission alone. I just want to write a
little bit about that portion of the night (with apologies to anyone seeking a full review) ...
Black
City Lights have long been firm favourites and this was the first occasion I'd
managed to catch the act since Calum Robb and Julia Catherine Parr added
drummer Caleb Clayton to transform from duo to trio. I was also conscious that
this was just as likely to be my last chance to catch them live after last
month's revelation that they'll soon be going their separate ways. With just
two more live performances scheduled - one at Wellington's Homegrown this
weekend and a farewell gig at San Fran later in the month - there was a sense of
poignancy throughout the half dozen or so songs performed. It was something
Parr noted herself on a couple of occasions. “Don't leave us" was the
response of one keen fan.
Not
that Black City Lights need a reason or any encouragement to go all dark and
dramatic on us - that's long been the way Robb and Parr have rolled; it's a key
element to their sound, and it's one of the reasons their loyal fanbase love
them so much. Dark, heavy, and slightly foreboding is more or less BCL 101.
I’d
like to have enjoyed a longer set and this one felt far too short but we got perennial
favourite 'Give It Up', and the pretty special new(ish) Stone Roses cover 'I
Wanna Be Adored' near the end. By which time Parr was preaching to the already
fully converted.
If
Black City Lights are sadly about to be consigned to the past, then the
ever-improving wunderkind Race Banyon (aka Eddie Johnston) is very much one for
the future. The now 18-year-old Johnston keeps getting better with every outing
and on Sunday night we were treated to a solid 40-minute-plus set that immediately
enthralled all in attendance with its room-filling layers of lush warm housey
vibes.
Race
Banyon continues to draw live inspiration from material off of the ‘Whatever
Dreams Are Made Of’ EP but the nonchalant way he mixes things up as he goes
about his work at least hints at a level of spontaneity not normally associated
with live performance. My gig-going companion perhaps summed it up best when
she suggested it was a little bit like intruding into his private world; that
we were like guests in his room, and he was just digging the vibe regardless of
what anybody else thought. But everybody loved it, and a sublime take on
Drake’s ‘Hold On We’re Going Home’ was a fitting way to conclude a captivating
set.
There is a very real sense that the sky’s the limit for this prodigious talent; whether he reaches for it while wearing his Race Banyon hat, or whether it comes under the guise of his other alter ego Lontalius. Whether it’s as a bedroom production whizz, or as a frontline performer in his own right, Eddie Johnston has it all in front of him.
And
so I consumed ludicrous quantities of the sponsor’s product throughout the evening
yet never quite felt energised enough to stay on for the Sunday session climax … but that’s not
to say I didn’t leave the venue with my glass more than half full, happy that I’d
seen exactly who I went there to see. Another time then, Azizi Gibson, Kamandi,
and co …
No comments:
Post a Comment