Chumbawamba
DVD: Going, Going
Label: No Masters
Tracks: 20
Website: http://www.chumba.com

All good things must come to an end. Inevitably. And yet we all hoped that for once that trusty axiom might by some miracle prove untrue. The Chumbawamba brand-name has morphed over the years from in-yer-face outright anarchists and ever-sharp political commentators to populist if reluctant chart-toppers and back-to-the-roots revival folk rebels; from big-band to clubland, acoustic combo to a cappella harmonists; often all or several of these things at once (which certainly confused the punters!), and always with a deep chumminess (or should that be chumbiness?) that's made them somewhat of an inclusive-exclusive institution with proud and fiercely loyal supporters. It's been a long road, one filled with much resistance from all quarters of the musical establishment and even anti-establishment (no-one can ever please everyone!).

Chumba's three decades of existence have been ones during which so much of this country's cultural fabric has changed, and yet at the same time plus ça change - as Chumba would always be so adept at pointing out. Their contribution to society was always in the time-honoured folk tradition of reasoned protest-with-attitude, usually justifiably indignant and ubiquitously right-on, delivered up on stage and record with just the right combination of professionalism and informal this-could-be you-too bonhomie, oodles of genuine compassion and humanity (yes, really) and a liberal dose of humour. These guys knew how to party, and how to make a serious point with intelligence and knowingly clever wordplay, and yet most of all, have fun. As is demonstrated on this DVD, effectively Chumba's Last Testament (not counting the sting-in-the-tail post-Thatch-humous In Memoriam EP).

It's a straightforward 79-minute film record of The Final Gig, at the Halloween-ridden tail-end of October 2012 at Leeds' renowned City Varieties (the old music-hall venue, and a singularly apt choice). The "final core", slimmed-down Chumbawamba lineup of Jude, Neil, Phil, Lou and Boff manage to inveigle onto the crammed stage assorted members of what might be called the extended Chumba family: erstwhile band members Alice Nutter and Dunstan Bruce, mates Danbert Nobacon and Paul Greco, together with recruits and inspirations Harry Hamer, O'Hooley & Tidow, Roy Bailey, Ray Hearne and Barry Coope.

The farewell gig deliberately presented a tireless parade of 20 of the band's back-catalogue gems, to most intents and purposes a "greatest hits" but with some surprises even for the hard-core converts to the Chumba cause/s - not all of whom will necessarily have been following the band over its entire 30-year span. So we get the timeless traditional-style a cappella rebel song Song On The Times that spans the ages as well as the various Chumba incarnations, alongside catchy singalongs like On Ebay and Add Me, the sinister tread of Homophobia, the celebratory Voices, the truculent showbiz of Tubthumping, the larger-than-life pizzazz of the George Melly tribute Ratatatay and the gleefully posited Pinochet's Love Song.

As often as not, Chumba's essential role was as activist revenge-seekers-with-a-smile dispensing imaginative commentaries like Word Bomber and Jacob's Ladder (and of course, delightedly discovering musical "timebombs" like Mike Waterson's iconic A Stitch In Time for a whole new audience along the way). From the Mexican cocktail-shaker to the whisky-toting dancing nun - it's all here! But Chumba have never been merchants of empty rhetoric: they've always cared, as the overall tone of wishfulness, leavened with an often surprising wistfulness and sensitivity, demonstrate, and as evangelists with a conscience they had the ability to silence detractors and achieve that all-important audience rapport. Good on 'em!… Well then - end of an era? Yeah - but in the end, enough is never enough - and never will be. Anyway, you can replay this gig to your heart's extent. Bella Ciao then, Chumba - or should it be Agadoo?!…

David Kidman