Music moves people, it brings them together, but will it tonight?
The crowd are wary, the stage lights are near-blinding and a solo performer stands in the spotlight. He is literally dazzling, our eyes squint. The illuminated figure is home-grown Midlands soul singer Jasper Malone. His voice is beautiful and perfectly melodic, bluesy and soulful. Under usual circumstances he lends himself powerfully to a full band arrangement – but he holds his own tonight, encouraging jovial rapport with some of the audience – but others are admittedly quite impatient to see Katzenjammer, and a sea of chit-chat breaks out.
But the room falls silent as Katzenjammer fill the stage. The lights go down, Katzenjammer’s attitudes and personas are immediately striking – professional, confident, colourful. It takes a little while to get the audience going, but with the rousing track Bar In Amsterdam and foot-stomping Le pop, permanent smiles get glued onto the faces of enthused merrymakers. Lady Grey turns the mood to a more reflective feel, developing on into the dark introspective song Hey Ho On The Devils Back, bringing the show to a haunting climax – with flashing lights and demonic vocals.
This is a seamless musical performance, despite a few technical issues, and if you’ve yet to discover Katzenjammer they are a must see act – energetic, lively, and an all round lovely group of women.
Words: Khrystine Blount
