Live Review: Fat Freddy's Drop, Nightmares On Wax

It was a slow start, as people began to dwindle on into The Tivoli. It wasn’t until 8.30pm, already towards the end of the Nightmares on Wax set, that The Tivoli started to finally fill and the evening take form.

Nothing was missed. Nightmares on Wax, was, well, somewhat boring. Lacking any true connection with the audience, despite asking “How you feelin’ Brisbane?” at least four times, Nightmares on Wax’s cooped and withdrawn appearance, being behind his MacBook and DJ setup, provided little in the way of visual stimulation. However, that’s not to discount the fact that Nightmares on Wax can drop a serious beat, to which people did bop. But it was this exact bopping that felt almost awkward, forced, and a little like being at your high school formal.

While much of the Nightmares on Wax set was indistinguishable from one song to the next, the deep, rhythmic funk that underlay each track was seemingly infectious, as each ‘bump’ and ‘bomp’ reverberated throughout your entire body. However, as Nightmares on Wax remained onstage well into an hour’s support set, the crowd became restless and eager for more than some deep house routine with rainbow back lighting.
A sense of freedom was felt as Nightmares on Wax exited the stage, and being seemingly correlative and automatic, the crowd shuffled forward, pushing and squeezing for space within the now jammed Tivoli.

Thankfully it wasn’t a long wait before Fat Freddy’s Drop entered the stage one by one, each slick and mysterious with their eyes hidden under dark shades and faces shadowed by fedora hats. Yet despite their nonchalant wardrobe choices, each member of the soul-techno-funk-reggae group immediately clicked with the audience, transforming The Tivoli into one big spontaneous jam session. Joe Lindsay (tuba, trombone) was an instant hit, his insatiable energy and dorky, dad-like dancing more than enough to win this audience over into perpetual grooving. Cool cats Scott Towers (saxophone) and Toby Laing (trumpet) remained suave, composed and completely indifferent to their genius brass stylings, the audience roaring for more. It was the smooth vocals from Dallas Tamaira, accompanied by crisp blues and funk-driven dips and hollows, occasionally coupled with rapping from the ‘eighth Freddy’, MC Slave, however, that turned the dance floor into one wavy entity, simply bobbing up and down, as the smell of freshly-smoked joints infused the air and burned the nostrils.

Old favourites The Raft and Wandering Eye were met with smiles and singing along all round, but latest single, Slings And Arrows, translated beautifully live, as the rare electronic-to-brass ratio is perfected in a titillating and contemporised reggae format.