Music > Live Reviews

Steve Davis & Kavus Torabi

Norwich Arts Centre

06/08/18

I think everyone who is vaguely interested in music is now aware of the fact that Steve Davis has an alternative career as a DJ. Aren’t they? Steve Davis, who in the 80s was the unstoppable force in the world of snooker, who played matches that were watched by TV audiences in the region of twenty million people. I was, and am, a snooker fan, but I would never have come to this if I hadn’t expected to have heard some interesting and challenging musical selections from Steve and his partner in crime Kavus Torabi. Kavus has become the default leader of prog/psych/space rock legends Gong, one of my all-time favourite acts, so hopes were high.

The place wasn’t exactly packed when I arrived, but eventually filled up with around 150 people, and at 10pm Steve & Kavus took over from the previous DJ who had played to an empty room for an hour – testament to the great weather outside, not his skills as a DJ. A desert blues piece, akin to Tinariwen, began their set, before a lengthy progressive track showed me that I was right to expect the unexpected. Let’s be clear, this was DJing by name only, there was no expert mixing, no cutting tracks after a few minutes, to take us to the next selection, this was two blokes playing songs for their full duration, then starting the next song just before the fade. Fair enough, and largely this approach worked well, although on occasion the floor would clear, yet the same song played on, when really they ought have cut their losses and got their audience back on it.

Hearing Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles got a big response, selections from Fugazi, Hawkwind, and Beefheart were personal highlights, but of course it’s the songs we’ve never heard before that really got us going and there were plenty of those during their epic three hour set. Lots of curious oddities, but almost always danceable, they made this a proper Friday night out. The trance and techno numbers really got us going, and another minor complaint would be I’d have liked to have heard more of this kind of music, but generally we were never too far away from another electronic oddity. There was a lot of love in the room for Steve, lots of people shouting stuff at him, and he was often down the front of the stage posing for photos. Kavus was a whirlwind of energy, bouncing around and encouraging us to throw our hands in the hair and really let ourselves go, which we duly did.

I don’t think I’ve ever still been at Norwich Arts Centre at 1am, but this was a hugely enjoyable night, and well done for taking a punt on this booking. The crowd loved it, the DJs loved it, and there was something particularly enjoyable about seeing Steve Davis, snooker legend, standing with his arms out soaking up the whistles and cheers as he dropped another banger to a sea of sweaty, smiling faces.