The venue for tonight was the Kaskelot Ship which was a new experience for me. The Thekla Boat just being around the corner gave me an image of what it might be like, but to my surprise it was certainly the opposite. This was not an iron tank ready for some volume, but more of a wooden row boat worried about the next crash of a symbol. The weather tonight was stormy and as I made my way down the sharp steps into the lower deck it became apparent that the ship was actually moving more than expected. With the band now finishing their sound check, the Kaskelot was ready and waiting.
The crowd now with ales in their hands and feet tapping on the floor, the Angelic Funk Foundation arrived on stage. The Band came out in style with the famous track by Positive Force We got the Funk, this was perfect for getting the crowd pumped. This song also showed off the two female singers Sam Jones and Chanella Bella, as it suited their style of singing perfectly. With the opening song out of the way you could get a feel for what was in store for the rest of tonight’s performance. I was looking forward to hearing the band’s own songs but at the same time was enjoying their cover versions. The Kaskelot had a good turnout for the Angelic Funk Foundation, and the atmosphere was very enjoyable.
Chanella and Sam were now trying to get people to dance which started off slow but with persistence eventually got some people closer to the stage. Once the Stevie Wonder riff was made on Jerry’s guitar for the song Superstition the crowd were all now bobbing their heads and moving their feet, this ship was really getting down and funky. With Jerry Shorts on guitar creating a few funk solo’s mixing well with Bernd’s jazz approach to the keyboard worked really well, and the next songs including It rained all day and Hang up really were a success.
The band now into their stride were starting to lose some of its tightness that they had so well at the start, maybe relaxing too much and losing concentration on timing. Their version of Cissy Strut was a good effort but personally was lacking the tight timing which this song so desires. The Tennor and Alto sax on the other hand had a complete grasp on this track and Sam Brown and Sophie Stockham did a great job especially after just one rehearsal with the band. They then took their break leaving the crowd to get a top up of their ales and rum.
Arriving after the break the crowd clapped them on stage, and with some refuelling they looked ready to go. Opening after the break was a smooth drum intro into their song New shoes, which was from the band’s drummer Steve Mallinson who was performing well throughout the evening, also the bass guitarist Pete Wookey was playing well with Steve in the cramped conditions they had at the back the stage. It looked like they had come back after their break with their funky soul heads screwed back on tightly and was now in full funk force. The tracks that followed the break were really unique, especially as you started to hear Chanella MC (Rap) on some of the tracks. Personally funk is a complicated sound to get perfect and to make it even more complex with MC rapping makes it less smooth and more of a rough experience. But the crowd loved it and it really worked on most songs very unique. It then became very heavy when they introduced an outside MC rapper to the stage. It now almost became too much in that you lost the rhythm and the beat of the music, which was being replaced with a lot of screaming and jumping around.
The band playing well brought out a few surprises when they had their individual solos, with Jerry’s and Bernd’s being very impressive musically. The band started to go crazy before the end of the show came, and really got the crowd moving with some heavy sax and high pitched funk singing. With the crowd now screaming and clapping the band gave them an encore. With the encore track being Play that funky music, this now gave Sam Jones a chance to show off her powerful voice that was excellent throughout and really worked well with Chanella. This song was a good choice for the encore as it gave the crowd a chance to get involved with singing and dancing.
Angelic Funk Foundation has something very unique and enjoyable about them, and with the band being still very new this performance had great energy. If anyone has put those James Brown dancing shoes under their bed thinking that all is lost, dust them off and get down and funky again to the sound of Angelic Funk Foundation.
