Live Review: Kitty Daisy & Lewis, Mojo Juju

Walking in on a thumping and fantastically menacing-sounding double-bass, which, as it turns out, drives many of Mojo Juju's songs, you just know that Juju and her band mean business and have no qualms about getting down and dirty. The finely-attired Juju is something of a powerhouse, with talent, style, understated charisma and one hell of a voice all rolled together.

Given that tonight's gig has some stiff competition across town, there is an impressive crowd here to see the Durham family do their thing. Their entrance is remarkable thanks to the fact that Daisy is sporting a super-sparkly, gold sequined hot-pants playsuit that could easily give Vince Noir's mirror-ball suit a damn good run for its money.

With their mother, Ingrid, and father, Graham, in place on bass and guitar respectively, Daisy on keyboards, Lewis on guitar (in one fine pinstripe suit) and Kitty on drums, they kick things off nicely with I'm Going Back. While Daisy and Lewis seem happy to be here, Kitty appears less than enthused. It's a countenance that will be betrayed little throughout tonight's set. The audience hoot and holler when Kitty takes a break from keyboard duties for a minute to beatbox during Don't Make A Fool Out Of Me. It's not long before they bring out long-time collaborator, Eddie “Tan Tan” Thornton, who is more than enjoying his time in the spotlight.

The set is peppered with new tracks, as well as favourites from Kitty, Daisy & Lewis and Smoking In Heaven, with Going Up The Country eliciting the most hollering from the audience. It's unfortunate, however, that on more than one occasion things seem to sound off-key and/or shambolic. It doesn't help that the sound mixing doesn't seem balanced, with some instruments being completely obliterated as a result. Such is the case with one of their sweetest tunes, (Baby) Hold Me Tight, where Thornton's trumpeting quashes the delicate xylophone, in parts.

Despite these quibbles, tonight's show is certainly enjoyable – with one notable exception. On record, What Quid is a dull and far-too-lengthy instrumental that goes nowhere fast. Tonight, though, it's taken one step further and turned into a tuneless mess of noise and mashing of notes. Not even the fancy lighting can save this baneful track. Thankfully, they make up for it (to some degree) by finishing off the night with a rousing rendition of Mean Son Of A Gun.