How the fuck do they do it? How does Ninja stay so ecstatic, so enthusiastic, so hyperactive through entire gigs? Then there’s the high-legged, arm-flailing dances. Tonight the hysteria isn’t born in the crowd; it streams from the stage and infects the hip congregation as they feed on the energy. The Go! Team never seem to tire and, on top of this, each member of the Brighton crew possesses an enamel-rotting sweet smile that’s going to either make you sick or envious. The fun starts now. Tonight Ninja’s squeezed into a tiny green top and the most fashionable black bin liner skirt but she doesn’t stay still long enough for you to appreciate it. Before long she’s running on the spot, windmilling and bellowing at the peak of every leap. Beyond Sam, Jamie and head-honcho Ian, the wandering guitarists who dodge and weaver around the little rapping dynamo, the pace of the evening is blisteringly hammered out.
The two drum kits hypnotize but as you watch and listen you’ve got to ask whether or not they add anything musically. Thankfully Chi steps out from her skins to sing the most adorable ditty as an interlude while Ninja disappears for a costume change. Either side of this uncharacteristically subtle intermission the band rage between tracks that stretch between Super Furry Animals homage to a driving soundtrack arranged to throw hulking Cadillacs into cardboard boxes for no particular reason.
‘Grip Like A Vice’ may be a skip-rope anthem suited and booted in leg warmers and faded retro vests, but ‘The Power Is On’ is the coolest playground power track with hints of action figure fights and sandbox skirmishes. The tempo is so rampant you’d think they’d need a sit down but a sip of water and they’re back on it. ‘Huddle Formation’, ‘Bottle Rocket’ and ‘Ladyflash’ are already Go! Team classics, vintage with their Grandmaster Flash-era beats.
Last year’s Proof Of Youth album has consolidated the band’s mainstream status. Tonight’s hearty versions of ‘Titanic Vandalism’, ‘The Wrath of Marcie’ and ‘Doing It Right’ sound like themes from programmes that give kids mini-scramblers to race up and down slagheaps. Amazing! This is their beauty: the electroclash of retro on retro, white pop and black rap, producing a universal party sound. The fusion’s so perfect tonight that I’m not sure if I want to go home and play with Transformers or continue my dissertation. What year is it again?
Words: Dean Samways
Photo: Dean Samways
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