REVIEW: HOT DUB BIKINI PARTY EXETER
What better way to divert attention from a rainy Thursday in Devon, than music that harks back to sunny Jamaica in the 60s. Local reggae outfit Hot Dub Bikini Party convinced wet skeptics at Exeter’s Mama Stones Venue and lived up to the expectations of the more optimistic fancy-dressed-Bob-Marley-impersonators amongst us.
A more perfect setting for reggae than a dingy packed out club full of cocktails, cider, ready individuals and basement toilets is yet to be discovered. However, context shifts and feet are brought back down to earth upon the discovery that in the basement toilets, not only is hand wash on offer but also moisturiser. No need to revise early preconceptions, just merely to question what Desmond Dekker would have thought.
The closest we got to a ‘Bikini Party’ was when pants were thrown onto the stage and the club was certainly ‘Hot’, but ‘Dub’ goes little distance in describing the bands musical diversity. With influences ranging from afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti to the more contemporary Vampire Weekend, there’s a lot of music history filtering through their sound.
Under the roof of a packed Mama Stones, this sound resonated with a bunch of people out to have a good time. From the off HDBP were bursting at the seams with melody, evident on opener ‘Lose Your Crown’. It was also an early masterclass in how to change pace with serene subtlety, a craft that was yet to reach its peak.
Every turn of pace contained the perfect balance of anticipation and unpredictability. The songs fluctuated with great authority and once mellowed, a resurgence was only ever as far away as the nearest Long Island Iced Tea.
Things were hotting up by the second track ‘Crazy days’, including the venue, the cider, the various ingredients in the various cocktails and the head of the man sporting the Bob Marley hat and wig. Guitarist Phil Kirk’s melodic summery sound further convinced the punters that a brief step outside would not necessitate an umbrella or a hat, not that Mr. Marley was complaining.
The crowd enjoyed the delightful ‘Julia’, which by the end, had conjured up a mass skankfest. This led into ‘Open Your Heart’, a song that teased in its oscillating grooves and transcended into a guitar frenzy, which got shoulders moving and many a moisturised hand in the air.
‘Cruel world’ created an atmosphere far more jubilant than the title suggested. It’s hard to dislike a band that appear to be having so much fun on stage, but it’s even harder when it comes across in their music.
‘Fever’, out of all the songs, has the most pop appeal and the most attractive vocal melody. Singer Harry Birch has an incredibly soulful voice which really completes the sound. The backing vocals of Steph Ould added extra depth and contributed to some wonderful vocal harmonies.
Set closer ‘When You’re In Love’ kicked off halfway through into a hundred mile-an-hour dance finale. At this point the last few people not to be dancing were dancing. If smiles were anything to go by, everyone in the venue appeared to be enjoying themselves and left the venue marveling at the beauty of Hot Dub Bikini Party, and with soft moisturised sweaty hands.
Words and pix: Mark Beckett
