Institute of Contemporary Arts

Gonzales & Le Together Ensemble / Poni Hoax

Date: 29 April 2008

Gabriel Green 

The second wave of the French invasion was upon us last night as Stage of the Art part two stepped off the Eurostar and strolled down the Mall into the ICA. Arriving in good time for a drink in the newly refurbished bar (very nice; check it out) I took the chance to practise my French with the growing crowd whilst we awaited the first act. The previous Stage of the Art had been an unmitigated success with Sebastien Tellier putting on a tremendous show so tonight's headliner, Gonzales & Le Together Ensemble, certainly had a lot to live up to.

First up though we had the uber cool and frankly brilliant Poni Hoax strutting their stuff. This all male quintet took to the stage and got straight down to business, tearing through a selection of songs from their new album, ‘Images of Sigrid' and recent EP ‘Antibodies' (both out now on Tigersushi ). The initial musical impression is pure rock ‘n' roll but as their set progressed Poni Hoax showed their sound was much more a hybrid of styles and influences. Italo disco, punk and electronica blended together by Nicolas Villebrun (guitar), Laurent Bardainne and Arnaud Roulin (Keyboards), and Vincent Taeger aka drumman (drums) who, when not imploring the ladies to "show us your tits" or lifting up mic stands above his head, provided some scorching solos; all of this topped off by the beguiling lead singer Nicolas Ker. Ker has a touch of Morrisey about him and languidly dancing around the stage in his beautiful black suede suit he sang with an understated ferocity that gripped the audience. You could tell they proved popular by the queue for their cds which were on sale in the bar. Poni Hoax are back in the UK on the 25th May so grab some tickets and go check them out for yourself...you won't be disappointed.

Poni Hoax had done a great job of warming us up and the room was packed to the rafters ready for the main man. Chatting to a few people I realised there are two types of Gonzales fans, hardcore fanatical and super hardcore fanatical. Gonzales last did a gig in London in June 2007 and the welcome he received showed his crowd were certainly pleased to see him back. Taking his seat at the grand piano Gonzales immediately took control of the night with a consummate ease that belied his experience, over ten years and counting, of producing, playing and performing quality music. Soon joined onstage by Mocky ,( ‘the world's greatest drummer' according to Gonzales), crowd favourite So - Called and vocalists Katie Moore and Matthew Flowers , Le Together Ensemble, bedecked in matching shirt and tie combos, were really beginning to shake it up. Songs from his latest album ‘Soft Power' brought huge cheers almost as big as those for his classic ‘Solo Piano' material. Combining soft intimate piano ballads with uplifting soft rock before taking the mic to rap over fierce funk hip hop beats Gonzales showcased his broad sound to our absolute delight. Besides the music Gonzales brought a vaudeville showmanship to the proceedings that was thoroughly entertaining. Always relaxed and comical Gonzales and Le Together had a family feel to them as they staged mock arguments and reconciliation that led to fantastic solos from each member in turn, Matthew Flowers in particular wowing all present.

At this point Gonzales decided he'd had enough of two over enthusiastic ‘fans' heckling and dealt with them in his own indomitable style; rushing over by the front of the stage he screamed ‘shut the fuck up!' and with a shake of his sweaty locks spat on them, bizarre but effective. With the temperature rising and the tempo building up Gonzales stepped down from the stage, mic in hand, on the hunt for a bold member of the crowd to sing the opening of one song, whose rendition, whilst not note perfect, certainly brought a smile to Gonzales' face. Following this we had a brief guest appearance from Akira the Don (performing their ‘Working Together'  remix) before an absolutely rip roaring cover of ‘Easy Lover' complete with requisite dance moves. As the mammoth set drew to a close Gonzales once more took to the crowd, climbing onto some shoulders and being carried back to the stage like some sort of sweaty deity. Finishing in style Gonzales and Le Together Ensemble deservedly milked the applause for a tremendous show that definitely left me converted to the Gonzales fanclub.

 

 

 

The next Stage of the Art is taking place here at the ICA on June 7th featuring Sierra Cassady, tickets available here.

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