Basement Jaxx, Glasgow review: 'a colourful clubbing cornucopia'
This joyful set from Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe was turbo-charged with carnival rhythms, flamboyance and a winning streak of eccentricity, writes Fiona Shepherd
Basement Jaxx, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall ★★★★
The Royal Concert Hall is not the likeliest venue for a rave but it has been successfully converted to a party space before, and if any band can persuade an audience to cast off their inhibitions and throw their hands in the air it’s London electro duo Basement Jaxx.
Returning from a ten-year hiatus, Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe were taking no chances - their music is turbo-charged with carnival rhythms, joie de vivre, flamboyance and a winning streak of eccentricity. To a swirling waltz intro tape, Buxton emerged on keys from a hole in the stage flanked by drummers, trumpeter and Ratcliffe on guitar, with Lisa Kekaula rocking mighty soul vocals in lamé crinoline on Good Luck, as worthy an example as any of the duo’s facility for combining infectious vocal melodies with boss beats.
Additional singers and dancers, sporting witty, outlandish and not entirely practical stage garb, joined the samba party on Bingo Bango and kept the energy flowing through big band handjive Do Your Thing, irresistible disco odyssey Red Alert and the punchy electro of Romeo, all part of a formidable run of hits in the late 90s and early 2000s which was matched by the urgent drama and inexorable bass throb of newer track Express Yourself.
Buxton presided over a mid-set interlude, descriptively titled Techno Pumper, which dovetailed audaciously into an excerpt from classical banger Zadok the Priest and then straight into the intoxicating flamenco guitar, mariachi trumpet and vocoder vocal combo of Rendez-Vu.
The second half of the set let loose once again on their magpie tendencies with references to club classics Ride On Time and Good Life in addition to the Gary Numan-sampling anthem Where's Your Head At before bringing this colourful clubbing cornucopia to a close with further samba joy in the encore.
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