King Porter Stomp and support Lakuta surprised and energised at Komedia on what had seemed like an unremarkable Thursday. Often described as a ska and hip-hop fusion band, King Porter Stomp’s live show proved this to be too reductive, and revealed that they are a rich blend of many styles, musically strong and able to deliver an enthralling performance.

They were appearing for travelling promoters Fiesta Bombarda. Fiesta have their own thing going on – their last showing in Brighton was with Molotov Jukebox at the Haunt, a similarly larger-than-life band. They follow an indoor festival theme, always staging a tropical makeover of the venue: so jungle decorations adorned the walls and ceiling of the Komedia, balloons floated among the crowd, and confetti periodically burst from the stage.

Support Lakuta gave a wonderful performance, diverse in a musico-cultural sense and irresistibly rhythmic. Just signed to Tru-Thoughts, their afrocentric music takes in traditional benga and latin rhythms, fusing them with modern jazz and soul. Anybody who missed this support act made a regrettable mistake – they played as though no one had told them they weren’t headlining the night, and their concerts are sure to shortly become more pricey.

This leads us on to King Porter Stomp’s set. As someone who had never seen them live before, this explained a lot about the band. There were several crucial differences to their recorded material: first, their brass section was far more prominent than on record. Ordinarily just the trombone and sax, sometimes the keys would pick up a trumpet, juggling the two instruments and completing an already a full sound. Second, the on-stage presence of vocalist Jonezy Arif makes a huge difference. His massive amounts of energy as he paced all over the stage really added an impact to his words that was lacking on record.

They played a set that was far more diverse than expected. They ranged through the expected lexical largesse with ‘Pocketfulofrocketfuel’, into extreme dub with ‘Shuffle’, returning to ska for a triumphant set-closer in ‘Last Bat Train to Cuba’, before a final foray into reggae with ‘Put Down Your Weapons’ in the encore. For a band whose literature essentially simplifies them into a hip-hop/ska band, the concert was both surprising and refreshing.

The night in general had a lot of character, not just the headline band. Fiesta Bombarda always choose good performers, and manage to craft a vibrant, fiesta feel for their events – which isn’t often authentically carried out in Brighton. Lakuta confirmed the tropical theme, leaving nobody in any doubt that this was a gig for dancing. The progression to King Porter Stomp was finely worked out, and an excellent transition to a more frantic and high-impact performance.
Ben Noble

Website: kingporterstomp.co.uk
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