大象传媒

As some gigs are kicking off earlier and earlier, perhaps because of the age of the crowd, it's not unusual to see the audience being home and having cocoa by about 9:30. Indeed, I'd be fairly confident that a decent proportion of them remember this style of R&B and funk and soul first time around. Not that there's anything wrong with the veteran stage.

Mentioning veterans, it's a veteran composer's work playing as the band come onstage - a bit of Morricone. It requires cojones to say you're worthy of him as your introduction, but unfortunately, they pretty much can't. From the likes of 'The Satisfier' and 'Name Calling', it's all a well done soul-funk-grooves revue in the style of Mr James Brown, but it's not exactly original. There's not enough energy onstage, and most worryingly, there's the feeling of a distinct lack of soul. I hate to invoke it, but 'wedding band' springs to mind when you're paying this much homage; you either have to be intensely charismatic, or have a bit of a gimmick. 听

The likes of Nouvelle Vague and Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain manage this, but Eli and the True Loves are just well-drilled tight musicians - too tight in fact. The legends of Mr James Brown's harsh discipline are well known, but there was at least a feel of spontaneity from him, something absent here. Everything seems rehearsed and practiced as though this could be any night, any venue, from the music to the gags, to the cheesy comments. The one time they go off script is when our front-man falls off the stage, proof at least he's not a machine, joking about "finding a patsy" to make a claim against. For the sake of the Union I hope not. 'Come And Get It' is preceded by a run-through the Big Book Of James Brown Cliches, and the call and response, used earlier also, is one of the few times the crowd seems genuinely alive - obviously the vitamin dealers had been in effect by this point. 听

Aside from his near-death experience, another moment where we deviate from the script, is when the 7-piece band is inevitably introduced, proving just how good musicians they are with individual solos. If these could have been incorporated thoughout the set it would have lifted it to a live experience rather than a rendition of the recorded material.

William Johnston