Review
– Mofo + Mother Cat
@Brendan
Beehan (Britannia)
Hotel 29 October 1999
All the
ads were wrong, some bands were booked, others didn’t front, others were late,
and no one could confirm what was going on. In the end, we were treated to a
show of some fine rock and funky blues which disappointed no one.
Despite
the billing problems, Jason was raring to go and for the next hour, serious
butt was kicked right the way around the ol’ Britt. Mother Cat gave us it all – smokin’ rock, blues ballads, even a
country & western hoe-down swinger. The set pumped from go to whoa, with
stand outs including (There Goes) The Fool, Mr Universe (the next
single please, guys!), Introspect, The Stud (yeee hoo!) and Swinging Tree. These guys are shit-hot and there’s plenty of opportunity
for punters and fans alike to catch them strut their stuff over the next month
or two – make sure you do!
Almost
in contrast, Mofo were as funky
and black as any non-black band could hope to be. Seated Leonardo’s Bride/Nikka Costa style, the quality of the instruments played only exceeded
the musicianship of the players – Cass has that Janice
Joplin/Aretha
Franklin/Abby Dobson/Marie Wilson vocal thing happening; Barney comes over all
Doug Williams/Craig Calhoun/Jean Beauvoir on the five-string; while the guitar and drums seemed
relaxed and along-for-the-ride, a little Hendrix (Experience) maybe. The set-up delay and ‘what do we play next’ delays
robbed us of more quality playing time but these guys, apparently around for
quite some time, should also be added to the must-see list.
Hopefully
the venue might be able to more properly organise a night now that the old
agent has moved on, but she put together what turned out to be a killer line-up
which is a credit to her, the room and the musicians.