Friday 1st May 2009 @ Colston Hall, Bristol
With Support From: Master Shortie

Tonight, Bristol’s Colston Hall (the one next to the giant golden barn) is filled with people eagerly awaiting a night full of dancing and partying. The party will be provided by one of the UK’s biggest dance acts Basement Jaxx.

To begin the night we were introduced to Master Shortie, a solo pop rap artist with a touring band. Starting his set with a cover of Prince Charming by Adam & The Ants seemed to go down very well but the raps in the verses were a little out of place for me. Master Shortie was very entertaining but tried way too hard to get the crowd going. He was almost forcing everyone to seem like they were having a good time which made some of the performance a little uncomfortable. After a very thorough plugging of his website, Master Shortie made way for the headline act.

Basement Jaxx took to the stage in spectacular fashion with their glorious hit single Good Luck sung by one of the many singers touring with them. The live band are flawless and the live mixing by Felix recreates all the songs perfectly. The real stars on this tour though seem to be the many guest vocalists; five to be precise. The three female vocalists brought tonnes of soul to tunes such as Oh My Gosh, Red Alert and a beautiful acoustic version of Romeo. The male vocalists brought the famous rap to Jump N Shout and harmonise other tracks.

As a live show, these guys can do no wrong. They have a ball on stage and bring everyone along for the ride! The energy was infectious and made everyone in the whole venue dance from beginning to end. Even all the seated punters in the balcony were on their feet by the second song!

The carnival show style continues as we discovered that all the singing performers had a different outfit for every single song in the set. All of these costumes helped make the show a colourful visual spectacle.

If you have never seen Basement Jaxx live before then you are missing out on something truly special - these people party like no other dance act! They bring every classic track to life better than any DJ set ever could. Felix and Simon continue to make original and soulful dance music which makes their tours the best night out you could wish for.

www.basementjaxx.co.uk

Stu Freeman