tUnE-yArDs @ Waterfront, Norwich

A vibrant and colourful night

With a sold out gig at NAC, the crowd was never going to be massive at the Waterfront but with about 300 punters there all as excited as I was, it was bound to be a sweet evening.

I've never seen a headline act come out and sit on the floor, down the front, and watch and take photos of the support band, just quietly enjoying it. But that's what happened when Norwich's Let's Eat Grandma supported tUnEyArDs.

In horrifically stunning purple shimmery anoraks and matching plastic shoes with their trademark hair mops, teen duo LEG took to the stage to give us 30 mins of full on activity. Literally running between instruments on stage (guitar, drum kit, keys, saxophone, recorder, xylophone, probably more I can't remember), LEG were fully into the artistic element of being stars already. With a huge range of sounds and genres from disco pop to verging on goth, they only actually played 5 songs in 30 mins, with most of the tracks merging into each other seamlessly. They looked confident, they looked brassy, they looked like there's nowhere else they should ever be again except for up on a stage. Their innocent appearance and young ages (only 15 & 16) belie their serious instrumental abilities and their confidence in being firmly tongue in cheek. The whole thing is mindblowingly clever, self aware and admirable. I hear there are major record labels knocking on their door. God, they deserve it. Check out Deep Six Textbook and Chocolate Fudge Cake.

Merrill Garbus and her band of backing singers, drummer and bassist took to the stage and said immediately "Well, Let's Eat Grandma have already used all our ideas". Accolade or what? Dressed in colourful tribal necklaces and pink spandex polka-dots, Merrill is not only a talented musician but also a great front woman, quite clearly the leader of the band, but also happy to let others take their turn in the spotlight. It's raw. It's rich. It's sophisticated. It's wild. Drawing influences from Africa, hip hop and all kinds of hundreds of other sounds, the songs were complex and layered. I could hear so many other bands I like in her music, Luscious Jackson being an obvious one. Merrill made her first album on her own using a loop pedal and there was some use of it tonight, which always intrigues an audience, especially if they haven't seen it before. But more than that, it's so great to see this music performed live, with its rhythms and loud, loud female voices which rip through the crowd with such force. The audience was well up for a dance and a sing along and there was even some clapping along. Merrill's voice was tender but rough, like a mother cat's tongue. Through a long set we hear tracks from all three of her albums, including Sink-O, Real Thing, Gangsta, Look Around, Hey Life, Powa and Wait for a Minute.

The last track of the night is Business, and Let's Eat Grandma return to the stage to dance with the backing singers. It's a true celebration of music and talent and mutual respect. Lovely job.