Live: The Slackers

Headliner: The Slackers
Support: New Town Kings
Where: The Underworld, Camden
When: 10th July 2014
Reviewed By: Dan Stoten

On a day when the weather forgot what month it was, The Underworld played host to a couple of bands who would soon return at least the feeling of sunshine to the leaden-grey skies over Camden Town. With both the New Town Kings and The Slackers having strong live reputations, this was one to be looking forward to.

New Town Kings onstage

It didn't disappoint. Although New Town King's set started ever so slightly flatly (as the audience began to take their places on The Underworld's lower floor), it soon picked up with Dabs whipping the crowd into a skanking, whooping frenzy. The band have a brilliant ability to get a party atmosphere going wherever they are, and they did exactly the same here, combining some of their classic tracks (such as the heavy-bass drive Stringalong) with three tracks from their recently released EP, Pull Up and Rewind. Although the crowd clearly hadn't had time to properly digest the newer tracks, the delivery of them was sublime, with Grabbed My Hand being a personal highlight.

What really struck me about NTK was how tight they were, how note-perfect they were. I've seen the band a handful of times before but they've moved the game on since September last year, their professionalism and arguably their maturity reaching new heights. They're a hugely talented bunch and now that they're beginning to settle somewhat, I can only see them going from strength to strength. An excellent performance to open the gig.

Next came The Slackers, and what I can only describe as a surprising set. First, they lulled me into a deep, smooth groove with some brilliantly retro rocksteady, the stand-up bass and suit jackets the band were wearing all contributing to a generally laid-back, relaxing feel to the night. This was good, I thought, a good contrast to the energy New Town Kings had just created. It's been a long week and this laid-back feel was perfect.

However, from this rocksteady, we had a whirlwind of old-school ska and two-tone, the energy levels ramping up incredibly; we had a plethora of brass solos which sent the crowd absolutely wild; and we had long, bouncy, energetic ska classics which blew away any relaxing cobwebs the rocksteady had created.

We also had what I can only describe as some of the most beautifully constructed live dub reggae I have ever, ever heard, with each bass, drum, guitar, organ, and brass being appreciated and given it's time in the song's sun.

I was genuinely surprised by the set. Although I was looking forward to seeing The Slackers, I've only got one of their records and to be honest it sits comfortably in the fair-to-middling category. Live, however, they're a different proposition, and well worth searching out. If you like your gigs to be a rollercoaster, go see The Slackers.