Ushti - Flora Fauna Fight and Feast, Album Launch
Venue: The Jam Jar
Town: Bristol
Date: 18th October
Website: http://ushtibaba.com/
It's a Saturday night at the Jam Jar, and Bristol has turned out in force for everyone's favourite pan-European rave-folk party band, Ushti. Tonight, they are launching their long-awaited second album, Flora Fauna Fight and Feast, and they're doing it in style.
Support comes from Rebettingham, a Greek/Cypriot band based in Nottingham playing Rebetiko, traditional folk music from the tavernas, full of soul and a twinkle of dark mischief. They draw the crowd in and get people dancing. It's the perfect aperitif for the bacchanalia to come.
By the time Ushti take to the stage, the Jam Jar is fizzing with anticipation. The seven-piece emerge to a roar of excitement, looking cool and collected. Accordionist Jassy Powles is sporting her trademark fierce black stripe across her eyes, and several others are wearing dark sunglasses.
They kick off with the first song from the new album, Pas de Passeport, a joyous fanfare signalling their arrival. Immediately the crowd surge forward and begin to dance, as if possessed.
Then it's Rootless, cellist and percussionist Gerry Barnett's moment to lead the charge, her vocals bringing a new and different texture to the Ushti sound.
There are treats from their back catalogue too. There's the delightfully dark caper Baba Yaga, the sinister star of Eastern European folklore from first album Wake up Daddy. They bring out Old Horse towards the end of the set, a frenzied gallop that still feels as fresh as it did in 2018.
Ushti have a unique combination of instruments and talents, and they are just as comfortable putting a new spin on a traditional song as they are playing their own new songs. Simon Alexander's trumpet and Jack Salt's beatboxing bring a razor-sharp edge to their sound, while Hauke Moxon-Riedlin's basslines underpin the rhythm section with distinct flair.
Powles' accordion, Sam Ford's guitar and Ursula Billington on violin keep the band rooted to folk tradition, but it is always fresh and playful. Billington's melodies ring out with crystal clarity as she transports us effortlessly from the depths of the Eastern European forest of Yaga to the clear cool air of a Scottish mountainside in Foel Scawen.
They have an easy rapport with the crowd and create an atmosphere of bonhomie which radiates to the audience and is met with pure joy. "Don't involve weapons in your love life", Ford quips after Sovay, the traditional English song about a young woman who dresses as a man and robs her lover to test his love for her.
Ushti still have the chutzpah that long time followers will know and love; the joie de vivre, the high-octane anarchic thrill. It is most palpable in Fight, their most overtly and urgently political song, decrying the evils of capitalism and reminding us "this land is ours".
They play an extensive set and gradually whip the crowd up into a frenzy. There's stage diving and crowd surfing: bodies carried blissfully aloft in wild abandon. The dancing becomes ever more raucous until the exuberance boils over, a swirling vortex forms near the front and a many-limbed mosh pit is born.
But behind the driving beats and the riotous fun, there's a new maturity and complexity in Flora Fauna Fight and Feast, an appealing vulnerability and tenderness. It's there in the glorious shimmering haze of Cinnabar Larva's Hymn to a Cuckoo, and the ache of the cello in their last song Hope.
When they at last arrive at Hope, Alexander's trumpet seems to hail the future, and the song is left poignantly unresolved, perfectly conveying the emotion of the title.
The encore, their parting gift, is Herze Bulgar bleeding into a brief harmonisation of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These), before leaving the stage and leading the crowd on to the afterparty.
Flora Fauna Fight and Feast has burst ferociously to life here tonight, demonstrating Ushti's enduring power and considerable talent. If tonight's reception is anything to go by, it will blaze a rapturous trail wherever it may go.
Lucy Langley-Palmer words & pic
Ushti - Flora Fauna Fight and Feast, Album LaunchIt's a Saturday night at the Jam Jar, and Bristol has turned out in force for everyone's favourite pan-European rave-folk party band, Ushti. Tonight, they are launching their long-awaited second album, Flora Fauna Fight and Feast, and they're doing it in style.
Support comes from Rebettingham, a Greek/Cypriot band based in Nottingham playing Rebetiko, traditional folk music from the tavernas, full of soul and a twinkle of dark mischief. They draw the crowd in and get people dancing. It's the perfect aperitif for the bacchanalia to come.
By the time Ushti take to the stage, the Jam Jar is fizzing with anticipation. The seven-piece emerge to a roar of excitement, looking cool and collected. Accordionist Jassy Powles is sporting her trademark fierce black stripe across her eyes, and several others are wearing dark sunglasses.
They kick off with the first song from the new album, Pas de Passeport, a joyous fanfare signalling their arrival. Immediately the crowd surge forward and begin to dance, as if possessed.
Then it's Rootless, cellist and percussionist Gerry Barnett's moment to lead the charge, her vocals bringing a new and different texture to the Ushti sound.
There are treats from their back catalogue too. There's the delightfully dark caper Baba Yaga, the sinister star of Eastern European folklore from first album Wake up Daddy. They bring out Old Horse towards the end of the set, a frenzied gallop that still feels as fresh as it did in 2018.
Ushti have a unique combination of instruments and talents, and they are just as comfortable putting a new spin on a traditional song as they are playing their own new songs. Simon Alexander's trumpet and Jack Salt's beatboxing bring a razor-sharp edge to their sound, while Hauke Moxon-Riedlin's basslines underpin the rhythm section with distinct flair.
Powles' accordion, Sam Ford's guitar and Ursula Billington on violin keep the band rooted to folk tradition, but it is always fresh and playful. Billington's melodies ring out with crystal clarity as she transports us effortlessly from the depths of the Eastern European forest of Yaga to the clear cool air of a Scottish mountainside in Foel Scawen.
They have an easy rapport with the crowd and create an atmosphere of bonhomie which radiates to the audience and is met with pure joy. "Don't involve weapons in your love life", Ford quips after Sovay, the traditional English song about a young woman who dresses as a man and robs her lover to test his love for her.
Ushti still have the chutzpah that long time followers will know and love; the joie de vivre, the high-octane anarchic thrill. It is most palpable in Fight, their most overtly and urgently political song, decrying the evils of capitalism and reminding us "this land is ours".
They play an extensive set and gradually whip the crowd up into a frenzy. There's stage diving and crowd surfing: bodies carried blissfully aloft in wild abandon. The dancing becomes ever more raucous until the exuberance boils over, a swirling vortex forms near the front and a many-limbed mosh pit is born.
But behind the driving beats and the riotous fun, there's a new maturity and complexity in Flora Fauna Fight and Feast, an appealing vulnerability and tenderness. It's there in the glorious shimmering haze of Cinnabar Larva's Hymn to a Cuckoo, and the ache of the cello in their last song Hope.
When they at last arrive at Hope, Alexander's trumpet seems to hail the future, and the song is left poignantly unresolved, perfectly conveying the emotion of the title.
The encore, their parting gift, is Herze Bulgar bleeding into a brief harmonisation of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These), before leaving the stage and leading the crowd on to the afterparty.
Flora Fauna Fight and Feast has burst ferociously to life here tonight, demonstrating Ushti's enduring power and considerable talent. If tonight's reception is anything to go by, it will blaze a rapturous trail wherever it may go.
Lucy Langley-Palmer words & pic
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