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[[1L]] JANUARY 2016

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“If within thirty seconds you’re shaking your ass, then job done,” says Adam Englefield, half of chart-bothering Bristol duo Blonde, before tonight’s Rescue Rooms performance. From opener ‘I Loved You’ via phones-in-the-air hits ‘All Cried Out’, ‘Feel Good’, Craig David-collab/number-one-in-waiting ‘Nothing Like This’ and a playful mash-up of ‘Hotline Bling’ and ‘Rhythm Of The Night’, the crowd bounce, dance, pose for Instagram snaps and sing along enthusiastically. Justin Bieber’s ‘What Do You Mean’ also gets a club-ready Blonde touch. But it’s their touring vocalists – the sassy, towel-swinging soul siren Sharlene Hector, who’s toured with Basement Jaxx and Emeli Sandé, and suave, smooth-toned Mainey – that make the show. On a cover of GALA’s classic ‘Freed From Desire’ Sharlene showcases her phenomenal pipes, while Mainey wins hearts on ‘Foolish’ and ‘All Night’. “We’re trying to conjure up a club vibe out of a bunch of people who are not that drunk or haven’t taken any drugs”, Jacob Manson told us pre-show. Job done, definitely. BEN JOLLEY

GRIZ @ BIRTHDAYS, LONDONFew artists can ignite a moshpit in East London sweatbox Birthdays, but GRiZ has a rep for playing with preconceptions. Despite his relative anonymity this side of the Atlantic, the Detroit producer’s decision to “cut out the middle man” and offer his albums for free means he has a ready-made fanbase out in force tonight. His second-ever UK performance is a showcase for his unique fusion of old-skool funk and Deadmau5 drops. Normally backed by a four-piece band, GRiZ, aka Grant Kwiecinski, has slimmed down to a solo setup to create an “underground party vibe”. He channels James Brown on booty-shaker ‘The Anthem’, rides brostep synths on ‘Need This’ and even inserts expertly timed Jurassic 5 acapellas. Did he really just tease ‘Hakuna Matata’? There’s no time to check as Grant dances across the stage with a sax strapped to his chest, a party-starting pied piper. Let’s hope he leads the funk back to the UK soon. JAMES WALDRON

BLONDE @ RESCUE ROOMS, NOTTINGHAM

Génération BataclanSt Germain and friends illuminate Paris

THIS ISN’T AN easy review to write. The weight of what happened at this venue just 24 hours later, when terrorists killed 89 people, seems to heap extra significance upon every word. But while that cowardly act of violence has cast a shadow over Paris’s Bataclan theatre, the celebration that was St Germain’s live return the night before still shines with intensity.

Fifteen years after ‘Tourist’ delivered Ludovic Navarre’s iconic fusion of live instruments and electronic house to a global audience, his self-titled album ‘St Germain’ delves a lot deeper, mixing his love for jazz, house and blues in a cultural melting-pot of entrancing

African rhythms and instrumentation. On stage Navarre stands amid ever- changing lights controlling a hidden mixing desk at the back while in front the show is dominated by the frenetic interplay between flamboyant Guimba Kouyate on guitar, tip-toeing keyboard wizard Didier Davidas, lightning-fast n’goni maestro Sadio Kone, Edouard Labor on sax and flute, the dreadlocked Cheikh Lo Ouza Diallo on kora, and Sullyvan Rhino happily slapping the bass.

They jam through the Alabama-tinged ‘Real Blues’, the head-nodding ‘Forget Me Not’ and classics like ‘Rose Rouge’, a baton of showcase solos passed from one musician to the next,

Navarre building the groove behind them all the while. At one point, Brazilian percussionist Jorge Bezerra unleashes a bongo solo so intense Navarre steps in with a shoulder-massage as the others jubilantly swirl their towels above their heads before whipping the crowd into a charisma-fuelled clap-along.

It’s an incredible show of cultural diversity, mirrored on the dancefloor by people like us, who thrive on amazing music. The people who came the next night were here for the same reasons. And while we remember everyone who was lost or hurt that night, the Bataclan will reopen, and we will return to party as they would. Vive Le Bataclan. PHIL DUDMAN

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ST GERMAIN @ BATACLAN, PARIS

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... German minimal master

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gets ready for Karnival

who bring Matador to Edinburgh’s La Belle Angele

on December 26 ... It’s

Todd Terje in concert for

Let It Bleed New Year’s Day

in Aberdeen on January 1

... kyō in Singapore hosts

Com Truise’s live tour on January 5 before he takes

on Freebird 2 (Big Bird)

in Seoul on January 6 ...

Get ready for a career

first for Four Tet who

presents a very special

live show at the Sydney

Opera House on January 6

... And French

turntablist crew Birdy Nam Nam showcase their scratch sensations live

in Lyon’s Le Transbordeur

on January 14.PANTHA DU PRINCE

L I V E B I T E S