|
||
|
|
Inflatable Buddha: Bigger than Jesus! Venue 6 – Tom Hendry
Theatre at the MTC Warehouse
Inflatable
Buddha: Bigger than Jesus is my nominee for the catchiest title for a show at this year's
Fringe. On the basis of the title alone, I went to see this show
without any real idea of what to expect and the show turned out to be was a
concert by the band Inflatable Buddha ,with a couple of performance
poems thrown in for good measure. The band plays an eclectic
mixture of blues, folk, jazz, reggae and what I would call gypsy dance jazz
for lack of a better name. Because of the acoustics in the MTC
Warehouse, it was sometimes hard to hear all the lyrics. This was made
up for, however, by a very high standard of musicianship exhibited by all the
band members. The band is really tight, scarcely missing a beat through
the whole set. There is also a fair amount of audience participation in
the show, so my expectation is that the show is better the more people are
into it. I must say that I was entertained by an almost full theatre
singing "woof woof meow meow
meow meow" for the
band's first song. `As mentioned earlier, band leader Steve Larkin also
threw in a couple of performance poems which were also quite amusing.
The band's final number was a very lively gypsy inspired song which featured
saxophonist Richard Brotherton dancing through the
aisles and even sitting for a moment in an empty seat right beside me,
all the while playing some astounding saxophone. I should also mention
the contributions of bassist Susanna Starling and percussionist Alex Horwill who did a great job of holding everything
together. One might wonder if this band should really be in the Jazz or
Folk Festivals. However, right now, you can enjoy them at the Fringe in
this show that shouldn't be missed by music lovers. - Terry Moor UMFM |
|
