to listen or purchase
About the only thing better than a Brand New Heavies album is a Brand New Heavies concert. Those who've witnessed these supremely soulful funk-masters in a live setting know the infectious energy generated by Andrew Love Levy, Jan Kincaid, Simon Bartholomew, and N'Dea Davenport is in a class of its own. You will see no laptops onstage. No effects. There's order to the concert -- the band's rhythm section is right and tight -- but also spontaneity. Levy once told me they purposely change the set up for each show to keep it fresh for themselves and the audience. A couple years back, I heard them launch into a Heavies-styled version of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army," leading the crowd along a path to climax-inducing fury. You won't find that moment captured on Live on London, but you don't need to.
About the only thing better than a Brand New Heavies album is a Brand New Heavies concert. Those who've witnessed these supremely soulful funk-masters in a live setting know the infectious energy generated by Andrew Love Levy, Jan Kincaid, Simon Bartholomew, and N'Dea Davenport is in a class of its own. You will see no laptops onstage. No effects. There's order to the concert -- the band's rhythm section is right and tight -- but also spontaneity. Levy once told me they purposely change the set up for each show to keep it fresh for themselves and the audience. A couple years back, I heard them launch into a Heavies-styled version of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army," leading the crowd along a path to climax-inducing fury. You won't find that moment captured on Live on London, but you don't need to. I've learned that each Brand New Heavies concert is just an appetizer to the next concert to keep devotees coming back for more "trunk funk" (think of the BNH logo if that doesn't make sense).
Live in London, then, is by no means a guarantee of what you'll hear at every Brand New Heavies show except for this one night at the Indigo 2. The Brand New Heavies are certainly more than their greatest hits, but this package features them all: "Dream on Dreamer," "Stay This Way," "Midnight at the Oasis," "Never Stop." The versions are true enough to the originals to give new listeners the essence of what made them sparkle in the first place yet the embellishments give fans some juicy music meat to masticate.
From the moment you hear "The Brand New Heavies" announced to the stage, it's a non-stop, two-disc workout of soul, funk, and disco. "Intro" is worth the price of admission. The horns are bright, the drums are incessant (Jan Kincaid is among the most underrated drummers), and Levy's basslines go up, down, and all around the fret. The instrumental that follows, "BNH," highlights the masterful work of Simon Bartholomew, whose guitar solo is among the many treats collected on this indispensable overview of the Heavies' oeuvre.
Soon enough, the voice beloved the world over by the many admirers of The Brand New Heavies folds into the mix -- N'Dea Davenport. Her bottomless reservoir of energy serves each song well, besting even some of the original studio incarnations ("Stay This Way," in particular). There's an immediacy to her performance of the material, a full commitment to giving the audience a vocal to remember if they never see the band in concert ever again. Check how she closes "I Don't Know Why (I Love You)," one of the undisputed highlights of Get Used to It (2006). Her take on the Stevie Wonder classic is raw, dripping with an emotional intensity that defines the conflicted feelings only suggested by the song title.
It's moments like these that make Live in London indispensable for anyone who appreciates a band that delivers full-throttle to their audience. Come to think of it though, there might be something better than a Brand New Heavies concert -- a new Brand New Heavies album that will add even more songs to their repertoire!
by Christian John Wikane