Ah, our favourite kind of venue. Small, an easily accessible bar, and a stage you can reach out and touch the band on. Not that you need to tonight, but I’ll get to that.
First up, though, Here Come The Crows take the stage. Their first track hits with a bass line that gets the floor moving early at this sold-out show. Their frontman was channelling his inner Iggy Pop, which kept the energy in the room alive throughout their set. I heard inspirations from the likes of RHCP, Pink Floyd, and maybe even System Of A Down or Mr. Bungle seeping through the keys and guitar work. A cracking opening band, perfect for getting the juices flowing for the headline act.
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After a quick break, Papa Shango squeeze themselves onto the stage and kick off with a literal bang (due to the frontman himself bringing along a party cannon the size of an adult arm). All barrels fire into a high-energy first track with a catchy hook of “Papa Shango WooHoo!” coming from the array of ladies in the band. Each assuming a roles along with setting the scene for each track, with a variety of outfits and props relevant to each song.
The band then all pull out hobby horses (well, some are horses) for the second song, one about a highwayman, featuring some unexpected wind instruments played by one of the ladies up front. One quick change later and we’re boarding “Flight Ten” and we suddenly have a team of flight stewardesses… and one moment later, there are sailors for “Buoys Ahoy”. The sold-out venue has been moving more and more with each track through the night and everyone, the band included, has been having great fun with the music and performance.
Ignoring the boundaries of the stage, we had guitarists and flautists and singers wandering around the venue. Sometimes they were playing instruments, sometimes they were squirting cream into willing mouths. Either way, anarchy ruled while the wonderfully silly songs continued on, accompanying the full-on lunacy.
Unfortunately, at this point, I had to leave the venue about 45 minutes into the Papa Shango set so I missed their big finale. Public transport be damned! Luckily, I didn’t leave before being offered some custard cream biscuits during the last track I was able to catch, on this busy Saturday evening at The Victoria.
All in all, Here Come The Crows was a solid opening act who warmed up the crowd perfectly before Papa Shango wowed us all with incredible stage presence, fun songs, and a show that I’d dare any band to replicate. If only to get more biscuits… I confess, if Nickelback gave out Bourbon creams I’d be tempted to go and see them.
This was a show worth seeing, more a party than a gig, and definitely a band I’d recommend. Fortunately they’re not shy about playing gigs and you can see all the ones they have upcoming right now in the poster off to the side. And if you don’t believe how bonkers the whole thing was, there’s a short video courtesy of the band below that you can enjoy.
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Review by Mikki Nobody
