Review – The Go! Team, Marble Factory, September 28th

It might be difficult for some of us to accept but The Go! Team’s debut LP, “Thunder, Lightning, Strike”, is 20 years old. To celebrate its anniversary, they are playing the Mercury Prize-nominated album in full on a tour which includes a stop at The Marble Factory.

It is hard to imagine a better record for a Saturday night gig. Combing indie, funk, jazz, hip-hop, folk and dance, it is the ultimate party album. As electrifying and spirited as it was two decades ago, the seven-piece group deliver on all that energy and more tonight.

The Brighton-based band deliver a show so exhilarating and vibrant that you would be forgiven for thinking this is a brand new group playing their current record. Every member plays their part with all the vivacity of the ‘next big thing’ as they jump around with some of the widest smiles you have seen on a stage. Two drummers help to perfectly recreate the punchy percussion, MC Ninja displays boundless energy (including riding an audience member’s shoulders around the venue to high five attendees) and “the man who writes the music”, Ian Parton, plays the harmonica like it is the most essential party instrument. This animation is infectious and the crowd quickly mirror the enthusiasm.

Performing the album in order means one of their biggest hits, “Ladyflash”, is played as the second song tonight. Frontperson Ninja introduces it by explaining that they knew they had made it when the track was played in the Eastenders café.

Fortunately, every song on that album sounds like a hit. Ninja points out that people have discovered their music in various ways over the years and they appreciate however people have found them. She introduces “Junior Kickstart” by talking about the viral Ms. Pacman video from YouTube which used the song.

There are plenty of people in the audience who do not look old enough to have been alive when the album was first released which is perhaps testament to its unfading influence. It may also have something to do with “Get It Together” being used in the LittleBigPlanet video game based on the huge reception and singalong/humalong for that song tonight.

The closing two tracks – “Huddle Formation” and “Everyone’s a V.I.P. to Someone” – make for an exemplary ending to the main set. Ninja explains that, in the early days, they would be called back for encores after that finale but did not have any additional material to play. That is not the case tonight as the band return for a seven song encore taking us through highlights of their other six albums. Songs like “Mayday” and “Rolling Blackouts” showcase that they are more than one great album and there is a wealth of wonderful music throughout the rest of their discography.

There is an early curfew because of a club night after the show but The Go! Team already provided all the party you would need.

Images: Craig Simmonds Words: Ryan Simmonds