I’d not been to the Bloomsbury Ballroom before, but over the past five years or so the likes of Amy Winehouse and Martha Reeves have played this plush Art Deco space. Somewhat disconcertingly, apart from the stage, the rest of the hall was in virtual darkness which suited Dub Colossus perfectly: this intriguing collective of British and Ethiopian musicians are purveyors of intense, atmospheric dance music who actually benefited from this dramatic lack of lighting which made the stage appear to glow like a coal furnace.
Since releasing their groundbreaking debut album, A Town Called Addis, in 2008, the collective have been relatively quiet. In fact last night’s gig was their only live UK date this year. But I imagine half the problem is one of logistics: when you’re a band of in-demand musicians based in two different parts of the globe it can’t be easy to operate. So it’s good news that not only are Dub Colossus still a fully functioning outfit, they also have a new album out in March of next year which we got an intriguing taste of towards the end of last night's set.
But first there were personal favourites such as the sublime “Azmari Dub” which illustrated perfectly how well the five-note pentatonic melodies of Ethiopian music sit with the spacious off-beat rhythms of bass-heavy Jamaican dub. New member, pianist Samuel Yirga, added an agreeable tension and brightness to the band’s sound with his jagged solos, bringing to mind Mike Garson’s work on Bowie’s Aladdin Sane. Another treat was the Horns of Negus (who have previously worked with Dr John and Dizzee Rascal). They shone because of their ability to hold back, as much as their considerable fire-power.
Both female vocalist Sintayehu 'Mimi' Zenebe and Tsedenia Gebremarkos are huge successes in their own right in Ethiopia and their soaring, somersaulting voices effortlessly filled the hall’s ocean-liner ambience. And then of course there’s the unassuming backbone of the band, founder member and guitarist Nick Page, who most of the time just chopped away at those reggae off-beats but occasionally surprised with a fluid but succinct solo.
At one point we were invited to do the traditional Ethiopian shoulder dance (“You can help us with this”), which consisted of wiggling one shoulder and then the other. We got no further instructions (we reserved Brits need all the help and encouragement we can get), so most didn’t bother to try. But it would be unfair to criticise a band for not working hard enough to get an audience to do something they didn’t want to do in the first place. And the fact of the matter was that everyone was perfectly happy to do their own free-style skanking.
The concert peeked with “Mercato Music” from their debut album (one of my favourite releases in any genre over the past few years). It’s simply circling brass motif created an ascending tension from which there was no escape until the track self-imploded at the end. There then followed a couple of new songs (presumably from the new album due in March of next year) which boldly signalled a whole new direction for the band. “Selemi”, for example, had an endearing “We Are Family” Sister Sledge vibe about it, although viewed through the same Éthiopiques prism as all their music. Page knocked out an appropriately wah-wahed guitar solo, vocalists Tsedenia and Sintayehu delivered a lyric which seemed to be little more than a continuous chorus, and the consummate brass section put the icing on the cake. This was 1970s disco with added Addis Ababa swing, and was all the better for it.
But there was still one more surprise to come from this glorious 12-piece; a sublime cover of Althea & Donna’s 1977 hit “Uptown Top Ranking” which -while remaining fairly true to the original - also felt sufficiently different to justify its existence. So after more than a year away, Dub Colossus proved that even if they were a little shaky live in their early performances they are now a formidable live act that can surprise, delight and get the shoulders shaking in equal measure.
