NNF 2017

LaSharVu

29/05/17

My first memory of Basement Jaxx was bopping about as a student to Where’s Your Head At?, clearly having no idea where said 'bonce' actually was ‘at’ and loving every second of the sentiment. My first ever Basement Jaxx gig was in Kentish Town 2003 as part of their Kish Kash tour (which, to this day, is still in my top 5 gigs). Since then, I have been a fan of their eclectic sound and infectious energy but above all, their incredible vocalists.

So on hearing the news that LaSharVu (the female vocalists from Basement Jaxx) were set to offer a rare public performance with an exclusive show at The Adnams Spiegletent as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival this year, they went straight to the top of my ‘must see acts of 2017' list.

To be honest, I didn’t actually know much about the trio other than:

They were incredible singers
That one of them seemed like a proper nice lass when she recently appeared on Channel 4’s First Dates and
With the risk of sounding like Louis Walsh ‘that they had an abundance of soul’ with harmonies to blow even the sweatiest of socks off.

Needless to say, I didn’t wear socks however, as Chapelfield Gardens was bathed in residual heat from a seriously sunny Saturday which meant (as is the British way) that spirits were high and the bar outside the infamous Adnams Spiegletent was awash with a plague of smiling music lovers, anticipating greatness from three of the country’s most respected vocalists.

The Spiegletent is the perfect venue for these types of gigs; intimate with great acoustics and plenty of room for dancing.

As the band started and the ladies began to sing, a calmness decended, cutting through the buzz, due to feeling safe in the hands of their experience and lulled into euphoria with their effortlessly accomplished harmonies.

They were good alright, almost too good, the sound was so smooth that it was easy to forget you were actually watching a live act. If it wasn't for their beaming smiles as they fanned each other down and their down to earth rhetoric with the crowd you would be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a polished recording. They mixed it up with some older classics and some new material that they are planning on releasing soon.

One of their new tunes, Leave A Light On written for LaDonna Harley Peters (the 'La' in LaSharVu) by Sharlene Hector (the 'Shar' in LaSharVu) from when the two lived together and would leave the living room light on to let the other know they were home, showcased the group's friendship and love for one another and even rendered LaDonna a bit teary. The 'Vu' part of their name comes from Vula Malinga who also had written some new material in the shape of a catchy little number Alien. 

Sharlene's plea that 'The more you drink, the better we sound and the better you feel' was unnecessarily modest given that the sound they were making was nigh on perfection but it did set the mood for the feel good, dance track Don't Know How To Love You dedicated to anyone who's been told their love is not good enough. The dance floor erupted in movement as the hipsters cut some funky shapes and the pensioners twirled each other round. 

As the ladies finished their 'last' number, one called Escape (a particular favourite of mine from the set) and their truly fantastic band (made up of some of this country's best musicians) downed tools to leave the stage, the crowd chanted and stamped their feet demanding more and eventually the group obliged, blowing  us all away with a medley of songs, by some of the mega stars they have worked with over the years, everything from Mary J Blige to Sam Sparro.

For me though, ending the show with Basement Jaxx - Red Alert struck a nerve and just as I once related to the lyrics of Where's Your Head At? as a teenager, I found myself wishing, just as the lyrics suggested, for the 'music to keep on playing all night long.'