The Black Seeds, Bonjah @ TheZoo, Brisbane (09/09/2011)

Tue 13th Sep, 2011 in Gig Reviews

After a successful run at this year’s Splendour In The Grass festival, New Zealand’s reggae heavyweights The Black Seeds have spent the last couple of months in their Wellington-based studio recording their fifth studio album. On Friday night the band returned to Queensland to test-drive their new material to an enthusiastic Brisbane crowd at The Zoo.

The crowd were all fired up thanks to Melbourne-based five-piece Bonjah. The band played a mixture of reggae, funk, rock, and soul. Coupled with frontman Glenn Massop ’s husky vocals, their set was the perfect starter for the evening. Bonjah had the audience dancing and singing along to their songs as if they were the main event of the night.

The Black Seeds’ reggae sound really isn’t represented on their four studio albums, it is in their live performances where the band really shine.

By the time they hit the stage the crowd were ready for some serious grooving. The band was greeted with eager cheers and the band did not disappoint. The New Zealand eight-piece kicked things off with an infectious beat that had the audience dancing along from the start as they launched into Sometimes Enough.

The Black Seeds pumped out a string of new songs from the forthcoming album as well as old favourites from their last four albums. The new songs received an enthusiastic reaction, demonstrating that these reggae-rockers continue to improve.

But it was the band’s older tunes that really got the crowd jumping, especially those from their On The Sun album. Tracks such as Turn It Around and Cool Me Down received the biggest reaction from the crowd, both of these mixed a reggae, funk, and pop sound that had the audience dancing and singing along.

After leaving the stage for about five minutes, the appreciative crowd managed to entice The Black Seeds back on stage for an encore. The band seemed to save their best songs for last as they launched into a smooth rendition of So True, during which frontman Barnaby Weir encouraged the crowd to sing along. Another standout song was The Prince, the song incorporates an upbeat musical jam which showcases a funkier side to the band. The band finished up with Fire, an easy crowd favourite.

The Black Seeds have well and truly shown that they are much more than New Zealand’s UB40, a comparison that many punters have made. If Friday night’s stellar performance is anything to go by, the forthcoming album is one to look forward to.