The Mummers
Date: 30 April 2009
"Despite my various fashion qualms about band members, I was instantly swayed by the pleasantness of the music and thanks to the card minimum at the bar, the gin and tonic had me dancing."
Aisha Christison
I was a fish out of water this Thursday evening and in my pre-gig stakeout in the bar I noticed a particular diversity amongst the crowd; a perfect instance of just how 'inclusive' the ICA is. The Mummers, singer Raissa Khan-Panni and marching band and supporting act Joe Rose had drawn the school teachers, mums and dads and grandmas out of the woodwork for a not too over-stimulating evening of music and dancing.
The atmosphere in the auditorium was hard to place, there was a strangeness in the air, the lighting was dim and frightening and the stage was adorned with wooden boards questionably painted with animals and a myspace link. It was especially nice to see a white-haired man standing front and centre waiting patiently for polymath Joe Rose, seemingly artist/musician, who began playing before the audience had barely filled the room. A wave of nauseating intensity filled the air and I realised I was watching James Blunt with a violin and along with him, his fan base minus the twelve year olds. Rose was a one man show playing pre-recorded tracks from his trusty lap top, hopping to and fro from violin to keyboard or electric guitar, which all together presented hard to listen to easy listening. Rose is certainly an acquired taste to put it politely, however there apparently is plenty of room in the music world for 'girly singers'.
Now that that was over, the audience had livened, securing safe spots to receive The Mummers an eight-piece band from Brighton. Several members took their places and singer Raissa Khan-Panni added much-needed suspense with a fashionably late entrance and there was a ruckus amongst the audience. In front of me old couples debated whether standing next to a speaker was allowed, whilst playing with their electronic photo devices to token the evening's events. Despite my various fashion qualms about band members, I was instantly swayed by the pleasantness of the music and thanks to the card minimum at the bar, the gin and tonic had me dancing. The charming orchestral backing along with Raissa's enthralling voice reek of seaside towns, reinventing the bandstand and contemporising Alice in Wonderland to produce Dionysian pop, confusing and intoxicating. It's possible to make another comparison to Bjork with Raissa's intriguing presense, irritating attitude and knock-out voice, however a female Robbie Williams in his swing days seemed slightly more appropriate, but that's just me. I left early to avoid the mass of excited adults that would congest the toilets. The Mummers made for an agreeable evening, but are perhaps a little too saturated for my young ears, maybe I'll understand in a decade or so, who knows?
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Comment(s)
Anonymous
mumbling
Posted: 7:20 pm | 24 June 2009