I don’t know what gave me the feeling that this gig was going to be one of the better ways you can spend a Thursday night. Maybe it was my mate telling me he’s just got one of the last five tickets on presale, maybe it was the massive queue I saw over the horizon as I approached the entrance, a queue of eager punters waiting for door sales, who were later told to go grab a beer in the other bar, or maybe it was the fact the bar room floor would’ve made the streets of Beijing seem like a quiet getaway. Any gig enthusiast will tell you, when you enter a packed out venue with an anxious line of hopefuls still waiting to become a part of it and an overwhelmed crew of bar staff, you get this sudden surge of excitement and just know you’re going to be in for a good night. This was evident in the moments before Blue King Brown took to the unfortunately small stage this night at The Paddington Alehouse.

I was blown away by how their popularity had grown since I saw them play to a modest crowd, early in the day on a side stage at the 2006 West Coast Blues and Roots festival. I definitely became a fan that day but had not seen them play again until this night. After managing to find a convenient central position on the dance floor, I waited for the lights to dim, and they eventually did to the groove of drummer Peter Wilkins, opening the show with a hip shaking percussive introduction. Then layered upon that was the soulful vocals of BKB’s newest members, backing vocalists,  Ngaiire and Hayley Cramer and the groove section completed with the infectious, thumping basslines of Carlo Santone. Completing the line up were the gospel inspired keys of Sam Hope, an extra level of percussive class from Salvador Persico and finally lead vocalist, guitarist and activist Natalie Pa’apa’a entering, armed with a megaphone. To the opening tune of Resist, the whole floor was broken into a vibrant, carefree, union of dance. This was to be the mood for the whole show, when watching BKB live, the themes of peace, anti racism and respect for one another they sing about in their songs, seem to carry through directly to the audience. I didn’t see one act of aggression the whole night, which is rare in Perth, in such a tightly packed room, swelling with bellies full of liquor.

After the energy inducing introduction, the jovial crowd was treated to a good time of urban beats, bass grooves, soulful vocal harmonies and feel good rhythms. The sound production was outstanding, you could feel every vibrating thud of those bass guitar strings and every body moving beat of the percussion, yet Pa’apa’a’s vocals still soared over the top. This complimented a well structured set from BKB, which showcased material off their debut album, Stand Up. Beginning with songs to get the crowd jumping, like One Day and Water and then tapering off in the middle of the set with sum powerful vocal solo’s from their two resident diva’s Ngaiire and Hayley Cramer. We were then treated to a highly skilled percussion solo from Persico, which attracted a mighty cheer from the crowd and made sure everyone returned to the dance space for the final performances of the evening. Confirming they are a band of the people, BKB involved the crowd on their last songs. The always fun echo, of ‘uh huh’ in Comin Through was requested by Pa’apa’a  and  for the following tune Us and Them, the crowd was made to crouch to the floor and were split up into a call and reply chorus which built up to a united return to their feet for final song Come and Check Your Head.

The Paddo was definitely pulsing on this Thursday night and it might hopefully inspire them to upgrade their setting, so next time a band like this comes into town they can fit on the stage and less people miss out on such a great performance. Blue King Brown are masters at performing to a live audience and are only going to keep getting better so do yourself a favour, catch them on the festival circuit and make sure you catch them again.