Academy Brixton, London
Joined by a robust supporting cast – including Prince's new BFF Lianne La Havas – the London quartet deliver a ramshackle yet oddly cohesive sold-out party
The chart-topping album Home and three Brit award nominations testify to the fact that Rudimental are now as mainstream as drum'n'bass gets. But when the Hackney four-piece – with a sprawling supporting cast – arrive for the first of three sold-out Brixton shows, they bring the feel of an underground party – one where drum'n'bass, funk and soul coalesce into a cacophonous soundtrack for people getting benignly off their heads. It's one thing to hear them on the radio, where the No 1 singles Feel the Love and Waiting All Night have carved out considerable chunks of airtime, but quite another to witness live their feel-the-love collectivism.
There are 10 people onstage – plus, during the sultry Breathe, a glimpse of Lianne La Havas, fresh from hosting Prince in her living room – and no boundaries, either musical or physical. The main quartet, initially seen in dramatic silhouette, banging drums behind a curtain, switch between rave-like keyboards and rocky guitars; trumpeter Mark Crown interjects reggae blasts and three backing vocalists pop to the front in turn, confidently taking on tracks that were sung on the album by John Newman and Ella Eyre. It's ramshackle, yet oddly cohesive, held together by the songs' bawl-along hooks and the ebullient bluster of frontman DJ Locksmith.
There's a good deal of cross-pollination. Powerless starts as rave and builds into breakbeats of drum'n'bass, pushed along by vocalist Becky Hill – who reached the semifinals of The Voice's first series, although she's since blossomed into a roaring purveyor of stadium-techno. A testosterone-drenched cover of Shy FX's Original Nuttah segues into the communal love-in Feel the Love – and, throughout, the party doesn't stop. These days, however, it's turned into a party that millions want to attend.
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by Caroline Sullivan via Music: Electronic music | theguardian.com
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