GOAT – Live at The Roundhouse Camden 3rd October 2014
I arrive in Camden amongst a rabble of street dwellers, ticket touts, and impressively dressed punters; already a hive of activity the Roundhouse still appears piping hot after a whole month of artists performing at the iTunes festival throughout September. Inclusive of a fine array of acts having played last month, GOAT must surely banquette on this energy, relishing every moment of their headlining show.
I overhear conversations surrounding the hype behind the Swedish experimental fusion band. Their consummation of the main stage at last years Glastonbury festival, sublime superlatives on their Jools Holland show and nominations for album of 2012, this band needed no predecessors to get things cooking on stage this evening.
After superb performances from support acts The Lay Llamas and Les Big Bird, the house of round now packed to the rafters. Anticipation reaches climatic proportions as the band don the stage to rapturous applause, for whom the bell tolls as they enthusiastically launch into opening track Talk to God. Groovy riffs and frantic dancing, the band demonstrate their versatility by playing hits off their record 'World music'. Crowd folk dance and sway, pulling all manner of shapes and simply going wild for the instrumental compositions and vocal witchery from the ferociously funky hepdomad psych rockers.
Let it Bleed is a stonking anthem, a fans favourite with remnants of Death in Vegas, the atmosphere is electrifying. Disco fever hails percussive prowess in a sea of blues riffery as the two masked female front ladies are emphatically full of energy and curiosity, dressed to extremity in a wondrous display of colours and mystique. GOAT's costume and props wardrobe must occupy half of the tour bus!
The resounding phrase 'Boy you better run to your momma now' repeats as the accented horde sing along when the track finishes a cappella, repeating until a thrashy Djembe rings aloud, holler tribal screams emanate wall to wall of the circular setting. Epic wizardry displaying whirly-gig grooves as flamboyant dance totemic swaggery fills the room to the sounds of Hide from the sun and Words. Magnificent melodies come from the effeminate dames as they shake their maracas along to Goatslaves.
I look to the left and I spot an over enthused punter climbing up one of the Colosseum style beams to get a better view of the stage. They flamboyantly thrash a free arm that pounds the air in jubilation, there is something magical in the air.
Instrumental repetition, beats of the drum thumps through my rib cage as the middle eastern influence transports us all into a trance of hypnoses and just as I find I'm dancing uncontrollably, an emboldened fella standing next to me tells me he needed a partner in crime to get closer to the front for the last few songs... In a heart beat I agree as we squeeze through to get as near to to the front as possible, situated front centre the in-house PA shows what it's made of when GOAT play out an energetic encore of Golden dawn and The sun the moon.
There is mystique behind their line up as the question must be 'Who are the talented musicians behind the masks!?' Long may GOAT carry on grazing on mystical propriety and voodoo witchery. Whilst moon doth glow and sun may show, they must play upon the grassy knoll until the Cow's Goat's come home..
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