Live Review: The Black Seeds, Mar Haze

The crowd dripped into Manning Bar on a slippery Saturday evening, hoping to find something to warm their souls and instead witnessing the positively sodden opening act of Mar Haze.

The name said it all, "Mar being Spanish for sea and Haze just meaning haze," lead singer Pat Kelly mumbled into the microphone. It was a thoroughly middling introduction to the evening, with a style that could only be described as cringe-worthy alternative indie. The originally Northern Beaches outfit have been credited with blending rock, blues, reggae, dub and hip hop, but the result proved less kaleidoscopic and more grey.

When the main feature, The Black Seeds, finally took to the Manning stage, the audience were sufficiently chilled. It was only fitting the Kiwi band begin with a crowd favourite, Cool Me Down from their 2006 album Into The Dojo. This was an instant hit with the audience, who streamed down the stairs and to the front of the stage, skanking along to dub reggae vibes with downtempo rhythms and a smooth as hell lyrical hook.

Lead singer Barnaby Weir let us know the band were touring new songs from their 2017 album, Fabric, as well as all the older tunes that kept the audience coming back for more. In this vein, Better Days came with a triumphant groove that was at once summery and sweet, one of their latest offerings but reminiscent of their past grooves. Delayed kicks and vocals met with whimsical keys and a catchy refrain.

This blended nicely into Fire, one of their classic rousing tracks that ignited everyone's passion for a disco-tinged inferno. Everyone joined in on the one-word chorus and boogied moderately late into the night.

The New Zealand eight-piece moved through a veritable bevy of rocksteady and roots reggae tunes before closing the show with sun-streaked jam So True.