REVIEW: Thundercat at Manchester Albert Hall

A Wednesday night filled with funk fuelled grooves as Thundercat took to the stage of Manchester’s well known and loved Albert Hall. (Wednesday 15th November).

 

LA-based Stephen Bruner, better known as Thundercat, follows the likes of Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar by giving the genre of jazz a new lease of life.

 

The red glow of the stage lights reflect off the classic stained glass windows of the Albert Hall. His stage set up is packed full of different equipment which left the audience wondering how it was all going to be used in one set.

 

He bounds onto the stage at nine o’clock sharp following his band. The audience can’t help but smile and laugh at his crazy appearance: he sports a red LA baseball cap which, weirdly enough, compliments his red dreadlocks, Muay Thai shorts (perfect for the British winter!), a pair of chunky retro gold sunglasses (again seasonal) and, the star of the show, an all-sequined rainbow bomber jacket which reflects madly from every light in the place.

Thundercat performing one of his many grooves of the night. Photo by myself.

Thundercat grabs his ridiculously huge bass with both hands and smirks at the audience, “You guys ready to go down the rabbit hole?”. The audience cheers in encouragement as we all want to be transported to whatever futuristic jazz planet he’s obviously living on.

 

He then bursts into his soft high pitched falsetto vocals as he opens with ‘Rabbot Ho’ which leads into ‘Captain Stupidio’ identical to the track order of his latest 2017 album ‘Drunk’.

 

The audience instantly starts jamming along to his groovy funk riffs as he gives us a taste of what’s to come. Everyone of all ages dances along to his funky vibes and there’s no denying he’s a man of many talents.  His band is also exceptionally skilful, especially his violinist who shreds insane rhythms throughout the gig.

 

He then covers his popular Kendrick Lamar collaboration ‘These Walls’ encouraging us to sing along, which of course, we do.

 

Thundercat has the audience in the palm of his hands as he meows into the microphone “everybody wants to be a cat” with ‘A Fan’s Mail (Tron Song Suite II)’ next up.

 

His childish head bops and his amused grins keep the show fun-filled but you can tell by the way he holds and strokes his bass he’s most definitely a sensei when it comes to making music.

 

“I love you guys”, he says as he starts playing some of ‘Drink Dat’ which normally features Wiz Khalifa but, instead of Khalifa bouncing on stage, Thundercat decides to prolong the song with an eruption of freestyle jazz.

 

The musical journey is sadly coming to an end. We’ve been treated to two hours of Thundercat’s eccentric jazz before he leaves us with ‘Tokyo’ which he informs us is “one of his favourite places in the world”. He tells the audience about his crazy adventures as he and his band laugh their way through the lyrics, “It was premeditated, tried to get someone pregnant. It wasn’t her fault, I’m just kind of psychotic” allowing the audience into the jokes of his personal life.

 

Then he’s gone… but not for long as the audience holler and stamp their feet begging him for an encore. Before we know it he’s back on stage, chicken drumstick in hand, and wiping his greasy hands on his shirt before he performs one last jam and once again we hear the warped bass sounds… but this time it’s the perfect end with ‘Lotus and the Jondy’.