THE GO! TEAM + ART TERRY AND THE BLACK BOHEMIANS – CORN EXCHANGE, BRIGHTON 9.12.24
Formed in Brighton as a solo project by founding member Ian Parton at the dawn of the millennium, The Go! Team first appeared on my radar when their sublime 2004 debut album ‘Thunder, Lightning, Strike!’ was nominated for The Mercury Music Prize and they made a sensational appearance at the Awards in 2005. I was taken with their unique fusion of discordant samples, singing, dancing, double-dutch chanting and rapping and have been a fan ever since. The album itself was somewhat controversial, as the original needed to be re-recorded and re-released due to copyright issues with multiple samples used on the initial recording.
Tonight was my fourth encounter with the band, the last one being a storming set on the tented Avalon Stage at Glastonbury back in June where their energetic performance brought alive a sleepy Sunday afternoon.
This evening’s show took place at Brighton’s impressively refurbished Corn Exchange and this was the first time I’d set foot in the venue for almost a decade. I have to say I was rather taken with the modern refurb which is akin to the upside down hull of a ship, the stunning wooden ceiling diffusing the acoustics impressively. The large portable raised stage was positioned at the North end of the room and offered a good viewing experience all round.
Tonight’s homecoming gig came off the back of some US tour dates and was a celebration of the aforementioned ‘Thunder Lightning Strike!’, a DIY album that transcends eras and genres, to mark the 20th anniversary of its release. We were promised we’d hear the album in its entirety and that is exactly what happened, all of the tracks played in the correct running order and still sounding innovative. Further adding to the excitement, it had been pre-announced this was the final time the album would ever be performed live, in addition to it being the final night of their tour.
The band bounced on the stage and took up their positions on drums, keyboards and trumpets and burst into life with the dynamic instrumental ‘Panther Dash’, charismatic singer Ninja sporting her trademark cheerleader attire with the addition of some festive tinsel on her wrists. There was a huge cheer for the opening chords of second track ‘Ladyflash’, the crowd joining in vociferously with the “we came here to rock the microphone” chorus. A great start had been made to proceedings.
The most impressive thing about a Go! Team live performance is the almost seamless interchange of instruments and roles on the stage, skills which are technically difficult to execute, but made to look easy by these talented musicians. The use of two drummers on some of the tracks added depth to the sound as they beat their kits in consummate duality.
As they drove through the rest of the album, there were lots of highlights which included the trumpet section on ‘The Power Is On’, Nia’s cute stripped back vocal on ‘Hold Yr Terror Close’ and a full-blooded rendition of ‘Huddle Formation’ , still one of my favourite tracks of the 00s, Ninja ‘chopping’ the audience in two to get the song underway.
Throughout the set, Ninja acted as Cheerleader-in-chief as usual, bringing the whole performance together. During the album’s final track ‘Everyone’s A VIP To Someone’ she asked the audience to ‘crowdsurf’ her from left to right to which they duly obliged, depositing her on the opposite side and back on the stage to arrive perfectly at the end of the song.
After the album’s thirteen tracks and a brief interlude, we were treated to a seven song encore, starting off with the hip-hop infused ‘Whammy O’ and also including the adrenaline infused cacophony that is ‘Mayday’ with its distinctive code beats, finishing with ‘Apollo Throwdown’ a nostalgic trippy retro track that could have been recorded in New York in the 70s.
This had been an hour-and-a-half of genuine feel-good vibes and had represented a triumphant homecoming for Ian Parton and his band. It felt like we’d been hit with a huge Monday night dose of dopamine which we carried across the road to the pub opposite, dissecting the show over a couple of drinks and concluding what a fantastic night it had been.
The Go! Team setlist:
(Part 1)
‘Panther Dash’
‘Ladyflash’
‘Feelgood By Numbers’
‘The Power Is On’
‘Get It Together’
‘We Just Won’t Be Defeated’
‘Junior Kickstart’
‘Air Raid GTR’
‘Bottle Rocket’
‘Friendship Update’
‘Hold Yr Terror Close’
‘Huddle Formation’
‘Everyone’s A V.I.P. To Someone’
(Part 2)
‘Whammy-O’
‘Mayday’
‘Grip Like A Vice’
‘Rolling Blackouts’
‘T.O.R.N.A.D.O.’
‘Keys To The City’
‘Apollo Throwdown’
Support this evening came from London based ‘Art Terry And The Black Bohemians‘, a collective who describe themselves as a “delirious brand of arthouse funk”.
I wasn’t sure quite what to expect when the colourful 10-piece took beaming to the stage. No matter, they delivered half an hour of their original compositions featuring an array of instruments and a four strong gospel-style vocal section singing songs with lockdown and Christmas themes amongst other things. A couple of songs really stood out for me, the funky ‘Black Santa’ and the final track ‘Make It’ which was accentuated by the gospel section and had a cheery optimistic feel.
This is the sort of group I could imagine turning up on a programme like Hootenanny and putting a smile on people’s faces. An entertaining half hour.
