Live Review: The Budos Band, The Bombay Royale

It’s not often that we have the chance to frolic with lemurs before a gig.

They are those cute, bug-eyed critters from Madagascar that look a little like exotic cats but move like monkeys. Some pose for the visitors’ cameras but most of them, darting about the enclosure, certainly like to move it, move it. Zoo Twilight shows on a warm summer evening are an enchanting experience and this evening is no exception. The distant sounds of Bollywood music mean that The Bombay Royale kick off their show while we are seemingly lost in a maze of primate enclosures.

Paying homage to the Bollywood music of the ‘60s The Bombay Royale prove that it was not only London’s Carnaby Street that was swinging in the ‘60s. Bollywood music of that era put surf-rock, psychedelic-funk and Indian pop music into a cross-cultural blender to arrive at a sound that tracked the subcontinent’s ‘60s with plenty of style. The Bombay Royale continue to provide a colourful explosion of archetypal Bollywood characters acting out highly improbable storylines to an irresistible beat. The outfit is a hit with the family groups, especially the many anklebiters who are dancing throughout the set and seem especially taken by the glamour of The Mysterious Lady (vocalist Parvyn Kaur Singh) and her crazy gang of musicians. The party vibes of The Bombay Twist bring the show to a wild and energetic conclusion.

As we head to the food trucks for dinner, it is surprising to overhear a lot of conversations that indicate very few people in the crowd seem to know anything about The Budos Band. Lead guitarist Thomas Brenneck draws out the long-time fans keen to chat with him when he walks through the crowd. It is Mike Deller, on a Farfisa compact organ, who kicks things off with a funky organ solo. He is joined by the rest of the band and together they open the funky goodness of Into The Fog. It’s audio-visual sensory overload for the lad next to us who bursts into tears as mum tries to console him and dad rocks on.

Showcasing their fourth album Burnt Offering, The Budos Band largely leave behind the afro-soul strut of previous albums in favour of a heavy funk grind that delves into dark, heavy, metallic psychedelics. It’s a move that separates them from the rest of the retro soul and funk pack. Older tunes such as Ride Or Die and Black Venom fit well into the set but new cuts like Aphasia and Burnt Offering take them to a higher level. Dealing instrumental jams, the focus is on playing and these guys are wound tighter than any rubber band Bootsy Collins could imagine. They channel the explosive energy that a big band so amazingly generates squarely at the audience to devastating effect. Their solid, gut-punching grooves effortlessly bring the crowd under their control. By the time the band deal an unreleased track there is no doubting everyone in the crowd knows exactly who they are.