Acoustic Ladyland Madame JoJo's W1



I was feeling pretty apprehensive just before Acoustic Ladyland took the stage. This wasn't because I dislike the post-modern, post-punk jazz quartet - on the contrary, I am very fond of their progressive, Jimi Hendrix meets Miles Davis meets Sex Pistols genre- warping strains.


My pessimism was brought on by the supporting band, Shimmy Rivers And And Canal (yup, two Ands). They were so Earthshatteringly abysmal that I figured the four Sowf-East London lads that I had come to see must have dramatically altered musical tack.

Mercifully, Acoustic Ladyland were their usual toe-tappingly dazzling selves. They burst into their jive-infused number, High Heel Blues. Then spectacularly talented saxophonist Pete Wareham led them into the tranquil Remember, giving dexterous drummer Seb Rochford the chance to shine.



The boys stuck to the more grimy-electro, jazzy, rock'n' roll sounds of their 2005 album, Last Chance Disco. A handful of quirky new songs were thrown into the mix, including Paris, featuring guest vocals from Alice Grant. But it was old favourites, bluesy Iggy and melodic Nico, that really got the eclectic crowd applauding along to the charismatic charmers' renditions. Not even valiant Tom Cawley's broken keyboard was enough to stop a vociferous demand for an encore once the quartet left the stage.



(c) 2006 Evening Standard; London (UK).