Loose Presents… Connan Mockasin, Buffalo Bar, Cardiff

Following the recent release of his debut solo album, New Zealander Connan Mockasin, with full band backing, plays a one-off show at Cardiff Buffalo Bar before his UK festival appearances (including Latitude, Leeds, and Bestival) as well as a string of support slots for Crowded House, no less. And Connan really knows how to make the best of his time, playing a stunning set in not the best of circumstances.

Cardiff’s own Joy of Sex opened the evening’s events to a room full of their drummer’s friends – which apparently doesn’t make for the best of an audience (repeated cheers for “drum solo!” are quite annoying it turns out). The band claim to have twice as many instruments as members, though I calculated (okay, counted) the ratio as 5:3 (guitar, drums, bass, synth and drum machine, oddly). They make a sort of post-punk/indie rock sound (it reminds me a little of The Rakes, though don’t let this put you off), with catchy bass riffs and more scrappy, dirty guitar parts. The male bassist and female guitarist rally yelps back and forth, and the band are at their best when they are at their most unusual. The synth buzz provides an effective extra dimension, but the drum machine seems to cause more trouble than it’s worth, with the heckled drummer at times struggling to keep up with its bass beats. Although the set was not without its flaws (the band themselves will most likely agree with that too), at the very least Joy of Sex managed to demonstrate some promise; of which you can assess in more detail with their new EP available now, for free, if you ask them nicely.

The first words from Connan Mockasin’s mouth that no paying crowd member particularly wants to hear were describing a recent bout of food poisoning, serving as both a warning for crowd members not to stand too close to the band (who had just decided to set up on the floor in front of the stage, rather than the stage itself), and a disclaimer for a potentially below par performance. Fear not, though, food poisoned musicians of the world (for I am sure this is the reason you have stumbled upon this review) – it will not affect your performance at all!

Seeing Connan with a full band is a real joy, with or without food poisoning. From the funky grooves of the bassist, to the incredibly hard hitting drummer (especially when you consider the music he is playing along to), to the percussionist, who, when he has no musical duties, simply dances around the floor space amongst the crowd and at the band members - everything works so well. Connan, as always, is the conductor and all eyes, including those of the band, rest upon him to decide, for example, when a song is completely over so that you know when to clap (he has a knack of carrying songs on longer than you’d expect, but it works). He rocks from side to side in time with the music, bouncing his knees back and forth, and he always plays with a smile on his face. It’s this upbeat feel of the band, the amusing lyrical content, and the brilliant musical performance combined that puts a smile on all of the audience’s faces, too. Playing tracks solely off debut effort ‘Please Turn Me Into The Snat’, the crowd are subjected to such psychedelic pop delights as ‘Forever Dolphin Love’ and ‘It’s Choade My Dear’. The evening at one point was very nearly spoiled by a group of drunk and loud “non-musical” types who were there seemingly for the expensive alcohol rather than the cheap live music, and things very nearly turned a little violent when one crowd member (okay, it was me) told them to “shut the fuck up” - but Connan even turned this friction into more smiles from the crowd, quipping “let them stay, they’re pretty fit!”. ‘Egon Honsford’ was a particular highlight, though highlights are difficult to choose when everything sounded so great - including the genuinely unexpected encore, forcing some bass improvisation to brilliant consequences (both the band members and the crowd were highly impressed by the effort), with a high-five between the bassist and Connan bringing the gig to an end. Seeing Connan live comes highly recommended; this is one of the best gigs I have been to in a long time.