The Cat Empire - Somerset House, London 13/07/14

15 July 2014, 13:04 | Written by The Line of Best Fit

(Live)

(The Cat Empire)

If you’re lucky, you’ll get a lovely summer evening at Somerset House to bask in music within the building’s illustrious confines. Though tonight’s gig by The Cat Empire unfortunately clashes with the World Cup final, the band power through like this is the only place to be. The Australian ska jazz-fusion group have been going for around fifteen years and in that time have built up a strong live reputation. Tonight is sold out, and it says something when one of the biggest world events is taking place simultaneously.

The collective take to the stage as the evening settles in, launching straight into “Still Young” from their most recent record Steal The Light. Dynamically, The Cat Empire are tight, presenting an incredible fusion of genres without being overbearingly imposing. You watch in quiet admiration whilst still being manoeuvred to tap your toes. They’re also full of joy and humour, appreciative of the setting in which they are playing, noting that, “a couple of hundred years ago, our ancestors wouldn’t have been allowed in here.”

The Cat Empire’s songs are stretched into extended jams, which occasionally drag. But the mix is impressive, the Marley-esque “Prophets in the Sky” providing an uplifting moment. Later on the band resort to epic turntabling, something that might’ve sounded cool twenty years ago, yet the goodwill of the crowd lets it pass by unscathed. The band’s personalities aid too, co-frontman and trumpet player Harry James Angus cutting a dense stage presence, something that his fellow singer Felix Reibl, though jovial, lacks as he starts off the show.

As darkness finally fills the sky, “Steal The Light” creates a smooth breakdown in the set, creating breathing space with its romanticised lyrics, the first real arm-in-arm swaying moment of the night. It’s perfectly timed and fills the historical courtyard with a palpable appreciation of the music. The band precede to create an arm-swinging circle dance within the crowd, somewhere between a hoedown and a bar mitzvah, before performing their biggest hit “Brighter Than Gold”. Though tonight’s space isn’t packed to the edges, those here gather in a squeezed mass right in the centre, the devotion to escape feeling real amongst The Cat Empire’s ardent followers. It’s hard not to get at least slightly caught up in it.

The group return for a one-song encore of “All Night Loud”, an uplifting tune that was probably written to close shows as the mirrorball turns one last time. ‘I’m much obliged/so thank you my dear friends and goodnight’, sings Reibl. Its somewhat anticlimactic given the energetic dominance of the rest of the show. Yet they end the song with one final, pumped-up breakdown, leaving the gathered satisfied.

It is this live joy that The Cat Empire are built for. Though musically they fuse seamlessly, the songs aren’t wholly inspiring as stand-alone entities. They are a live act through-and-through, and they put on a buoyant show that entertains and galvanises only briefly, people returning to their lives as soon as the house lights are up. That said, it is a true delight for a beautiful summer evening, so kudos to them.