Altsounds - Easy Star All-Stars - Live at Koko, London

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Easy Star All-Stars - Live at Koko, London

Well, I really couldn’t pick this one. I’ve mulled, I’ve considered, I’ve reflected, and yet I still can’t decide exactly how I feel about the Easy Star All-Stars. Although, I guess I don’t have to be 100% conclusive, so here is where I stand after the Easy Star All-Stars’ set at London’s Koko on April 28th.

By way of background, the New York based reggae/dub/roots octet, who are most famed for their previous two albums, covers Dub Side of The Moon and Radiodread, are currently touring their latest release Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band, a track by track covers album of The Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

A keyboardist, guitarist, bassist, trombonist, saxophonist, drummer and two lead singers make up the Easy Star All-Stars, and they are completely captivating from the moment they take the stage. The typical reggae bassist, with his bass on a very short leash, combined with the cool mellow ambience from a lead female vocalist and the jazz styled brass section taking up front right, make for a great stage presence and spell a night of chilled out, smooth music.

Their ultra-placid drummer doesn’t even flinch when he breaks his drum stick half way through a jam, and when the bassist disappears behind the amps to do his own technician work, the others play on as is if it was meant to happen (was it meant to happen!?).
The lead male vocalist is like a Jamaican Andre 3000 on uppers, being crazy energetic during his face time, and bounding out of sight sporadically for a well-deserved break.

Mid set, I put the members themselves aside, and focus on the music, just as the Easy Star All-Stars rip into extremely extended versions of The Beatles tracks ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’, and ‘Lovely Rita’. This is where I am torn. I have my fair share of reggae/dub/roots music in my collection, so I knew that aspect of the evening would be perfect. But I’m not known as the world’s biggest The Beatles fan, so the Easy Star All-Stars' latest release was never really going to be my thing.

Just when I thought my chances of epic new found love for the Easy Star All-Stars was doomed, they roll straight into their Pink Floyd cover of ‘Great Gig In The Sky’, which overall has a more tight and intriguing feel.
It may have just been me feeding off the other crowd members’ energy when singing along to ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ or ‘A Little Help From My Friends’, but whatever it was, it was contagious. These massive sing-along tracks, combined with some of the Easy Star All-Stars’ back catalogue, made a phenomenal set that every single person in the room seemed to lap up.

Basically, all I can say now is, go and see the Easy Star All-Stars live and decide for yourself whether their unique blend of reggae and dub with classic tracks from yester-year are to your liking – because the Easy Star All-Stars are definitely a sight to be experienced, not just read about. Go now.

Easy Star All-Stars played:

1. Bed of Roses
2. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
3. With a Little Help From My Friends
4. She’s Leaving Home
5. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
6. Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite!
7. Breathe
8. Paranoid Android
9. When I’m Sixty-Four
10. Lovely Rita
11. Great Gig in The Sky
12. Money
13. Karma Police