Saturday 15th March 2008 @ Academy

It’s late on a windy Saturday night in Bristol and the Academy is buzzing. Anybody who is anybody has turned out tonight to witness the glorious musical fiesta awaiting them in the form of Quantic Soul Orchestra.

The Quantic ensemble has played Bristol countless times now and each gig is a guaranteed soul funk party that will have people selling their mothers’ prosthetic limbs to get tickets for. The atmosphere is electric around this metallic amphitheatre and when Quantic Soul Orchestra finally do take to the Academy stage, it is already way beyond midnight and the party is in full swing. Quantic himself (aka. Will Holland once of Brighton but now residing in Santiago de Cali, Colombia) leads his orchestra out onstage to a sea of roars and hollers. The line up is constantly in flux (Quantic being the only permanent member) and amongst tonight’s orchestra we are treated to trumpets, saxophones, pianos, bongos, drums, bass, guitar and all topped off by the vocal talents of soul queen Noelle Scaggs.

The lively crowd need no encouragement to get going and from the first hint of boogie rhythm the masses are dancing. Swinging hips, swaying and clapping arms are a permanent fixture of the next two hours while people all dream of the sort of Latin American funk parties within which Quantic Soul Orchestra was born.

A night of booming, Latin-flavoured, old-school funk and soul ensues and the crowd lap every last bit up. What really makes the show and what consistently keeps the crowds interested and coming back for more is the honesty and purity of the music. The eight musicians on stage tonight are all genuine masters at their game and the music they create together is genuine and brilliant, no pre-recordings or synthetic beats here. Performances like tonight’s from Quantic Soul Orchestra really show that live music is still well and truly alive in the new millennium.

www.quantic.org

Matt Whittle