If you haven't seen a musician having fun, then you haven't seen a good musician. From the constipated-face reveries of blues guitarists to the co-ordinated brass section dances of ska, you can intuitively tell when someone is truly enjoying themselves onstage. It's not like those pretentious gits that think their dull whining is soulful, and are, frankly, so far up their own arse that they give themselves a colonic every time they drink, because when you're really good at what you do, it would be pointless to be self-important. It would be the equivalent, in non-musical terms, of taking pride in having eaten a chip. A good musician wouldn't dwell on being able to eat that chip - he'd just enjoy the taste.
And so it is with Tarrbaby, the strapping Welsh jazzfunk electro maestro. He, superbly assisted by Jason "Superboy" Reeve, certainly enjoys his metaphorical chips, even when, metaphorically-speaking, trying to eat 50 at once. The array of keyboards, samplers, delays, effects, mini-mixers, flutes, saxophones, guitars and drum machines are all operated with a kind of manic familiarity to make a sci-fi one man band, a sort of cross between Flash Gordon and Dick Van Dyke's character Bert in Mary Poppins - Flash Van Dyke, if you will - but without the dual drawbacks of a crap Cockney accent and Brian Blessed as arch-nemesis.
The words "Move Yourself" were scrawled across Jon Tarr's hand in permanent marker before he even came to The Metropolitan. For what purpose, I can't say - a personal mantra, perhaps, or a badly-spelt reminder that he needs to help his Arabian friend Youssef move house - but it may have been something to do with Move Yourself being the first song Tarrbaby played. A funky beat and growling synths smack into your consciousness, forcing movement, making you - at the very least - nod your head to the rhythm. The same goes for the next song, and the next, and the next. Multitalented doesn't begin to describe Jon Tarr, and exceptional doesn't even get close to describing Jason Reeve's drumming. And don't think that you can get a good appreciation of this on MySpace - you can't. You have to see Tarrbaby's dance-inspired electrofunk jazz to believe how he does it, and even then it's impossible to keep up. All you need to do is what Tarrbaby does: enjoy the taste.
Tarrbaby was supported by the incredibly talented and likable Andy Mitchell. A 20-minute set serenaded us with acoustic versions of songs usually performed with his band, and all went down a treat. Mitchell's Bon Jovi-like husky vocals and beefy riffs rocked the house, demanding that the audience watch and learn and enjoy themselves. Getting Stranger's long, powerful ending note and Oh Yeah's singalong chorus showed Mitchell's versatility and rocking dyamic, and, I'm sure, inspired a lot of people to go to watch him with his band to get another listen.
The Platform is part of the
Portobello Acoustic Sessions, and is held every Wednesday night from 7:30 at The Metropolitan bar, Westbourne Park.
The Metropolitan bar is holding Westfest, a micro-festival, this weekend (Easter weekend, 9th-12th April). Tarrbaby will be performing Thursday and Sunday at 6:30. 
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The PAS Diaries: The Platform Presents Tarrbaby
