It had been an incredibly busy Thursday and Friday at the Great Escape festival, seeing bands left right and centre with a few interesting conferences slipped in between. So I decided to review my schedule as there weren’t many bands that I recognised or which took my fancy late on the Friday night. It appeared that the whole of Brighton was heading down to the Corn Exchange for the Royal Blood gig so I took a leisurely walk through the lanes marvelling at how alive the whole city felt and how it made me proud to be a Brightonian. As I meandering my way home feeling tired and wanting to get a proper good rest for the hectic line-up I’d scheduled for the next day, I decided at the last momnet to poke my head in at the Green Door Store to have a little look at what was happening there not knowing what to expect – and was very pleased that I did!
I managed to catch my favourite act of the Great Escape ‘KiT’ (Kuenta i Tambu) inspired by traditional Afro Caribbean music, KiT creates a brand new sound by mixing the traditional instrumentation with electronic sound samples and singing with a bit of chanting. Think Balkan Beat Box (one of my favourites) but with an African twist. The Green Door Store was half empty (or half full – you choose!) as KiT was setting up, but within minutes of them starting, crowds were flooding in to the venue hypnotized by the beat which rang throughout. KiT had two drummers/percussionists placed at either side of the stage playing both drums (snare, tom, cymbals) and traditional African originated percussive instruments which created an incredible live performance. Joining the drummers on stage was an electronic/sample player who pumped out the bass and all the other leading samples plus two leading performers who were resposible for singing and getting the crowd going – which they did to great effect.
Normally I find it takes a lot to get people going at these showcase events but almost immediately people started to take off their jackets and jumpers and commenced dancing like mad and going wild with delight. About half way through the gig (as the next number was starting) the two lead singers commented on how hot it was (clearly part of their routine), took off their own jumpers and then just before the bass drop started to swing their jumpers over their heads in a dance move kind of way and encouraged everyone to do the same. I was impressed at how many people in the audience actually joined in and for the majority of the rest of the number, the room was filled with colourful jumpers spinning round which got the crowd going even further. I feel very lucky to have caught this band especially as I hadn’t planned it and after the gig everyone I spoke to who had not previously heard of KiT were all amazed how electrifying and incredible they were. I left that venue with a strong sense of elation.
When I got home I immediately checked out their music online, and whilst it is still very good – KiT seem to transfer far better live than they do on record – the idea is for everyone to have a great big party and it seems that is what they’re all about. Unfortunately they’re not coming back to the UK any time soon – but keep an eye on their sites because when they’re next in the area – you absolutely have to see them live, I promise you – you will not be disappointed.