Mahoud, Sidney Creswick @ TheFront, Canberra (15/6/11)

Fri 17th Jun, 2011 in Gig Reviews

You might have seen him as frontman Sidney Creswick or heading the Liam Budge Quartet, but on Wednesday night vocalist Liam Budge was surrounded by friends and family to celebrate his 21st birthday with the sounds of funk band Mahoud at The Front. The celebration took on the mood of a house party in the friendly, intimate space of The Front, with its multitude of lamps and comfy couches.

Mahoud are a dynamic funk band whose members were slightly crowded in the stage area but they easily made the space their own. At full strength, Mahoud’s complement of performers onstage included two well matched vocalists, with lead Rachel Lole deftly supported by Sophia Christopher, alongside three saxophones, trombone, guitar, bass, drums and keys. Mahoud performed a range of inventively reworked versions of popular songs including Michael Jackson’s Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough and Kool & The Gang hits Jungle Boogie and the rather fitting party number Celebration.

Mahoud’s cover of Soulive’s Roll The Tape offered a good opportunity for the brass section to stretch their wings, along with Josh Hart’s trombone slide which he deftly manoeuvred to miss guests walking by in the small space. Mahoud made good use of saxophonists Andrew Kimber and Oisin Smith-Coburn who duelled magnificently throughout the night. Victor Rufus on guitar showed great dexterity, working well in tandem with the grooves of Caleb Wearne on bass and the brilliant beats of drummer Henry Rassmussen, whilst Callum Stewart shone with twinkling keys on a double-decker Nord setup.

Following a brief interlude of birthday speeches from friends, family and the birthday boy himself, Liam Budge lent his considerable vocal talents to the band for a cover of D’Angelo’s emotionally charged Shit, Damn, Motherfucker. To keep the party in full swing, Mahoud pulled out all the stops to deliver deftly arranged covers of the Cat Empire’s Wine Song, perfectly rendered for merry making, and a jazzed up version of The J. Geils Band’s (Ain’t Nothin’ But A) House Party. Musically inclined friends were pulled from the crowd to scat with the band before spilling into the night at the party’s conclusion.