Just after the release of the tUnE-yArDs second album ‘WHO KILL’ back in 2011, I discovered one of my all time favourite artists and have enjoyed their music ever since.
 
Led by the formidable Merill Garbus who combines ‘live’ loop drums, vocals and ukulele, to produce a blend of African, folk, alternative and hip hop styles which in turn creates a visual and audible experience like no other.
 
I’ve been lucky enough to have seen tUnE-yArDs play twice before; once in Brighton at The Haunt and once in London at The Shepherds Bush Empire and back then the band were not so well known and consisted of Merill Garbus (drums, vocals, ukulele) and Nate Brenner (bass) – along with a couple of saxophonists who came on and off at various points. Garbus surrounded herself with an array of different drums and percussion instruments which when looped up with layers of vocal harmonies created her extremely distinctive and powerful sound.
Since then, more and more people have had the pleasure of discovering tUnE-yArDs and whilst the show has clearly improved presentation and performance wise, I did miss some of the original raw beauty. At the Concorde 2 for her Nikki Nak tour, Garbus had not only recruited a drummer but two backing singers as well who joined her onstage along with her trusty bassist Nate Brenner. This took a lot of pressure off of Garbus as it meant that she didn’t need to spend valuable stage time looping up her tracks (the vocalists and drummer did this for her). This did mean however that the transition from one song into the other was more fluid and stronger, however I couldn’t help but miss the rough diamond style of the early gigs when it was just Garbus and Brenner.
 
In typical tUnE-yArDs fashion, Garbus does enjoy putting on a show and that’s precisely what she did. All members on stage were donned with colourful clothes, face paint and glitter galore! One of the backing singers was even sporting a suit style outfit with material that was the design from the Nikki Nak album cover! Both backing singers did not just sing either, but had rehearsed an impressive routine for each song – and not your usual finger clicking and ‘one arm up, one arm down’ routine – but was almost reminiscent of Marcel Marceau’s mime acts with a bit of musical theatre thrown into the mix.
 
This was by far the best I’ve seen tUnE-yArDs play and I am so pleased the whole world is now discovering them as they truly deserve it. I even managed to talk to Merril Garbus briefly backstage after their set and haven’t met such a down-to-earth and appreciative human being. You could really tell that she is not taking fame lightly and thanked us all sincerely for coming down. She even mentioned on stage after she was brought back on for her encore (from an extremely enthusiastic crowd) that she finds the concept of encores strange as it always seems that it is something that is ‘expected’ and wanted us all to know that she never takes it for granted.
 
tUnE-yArDs still remains in my top list of best live performances (Along with Balkan Beat Box, MØ + Caravan Palace) I’ve ever seen which is probably why she sold out so quickly. Next time she visits our sunny shores – BrightonsFinest.com highly (if not a little forcefully) recommends you get a ticket ASAP as you’re sure to witness a truly astounding experience that no other artist can quite pull off as well as tUnE-yArDs.
 
Website: tune-yards.com