A feel-good finale to 6 Music Festival in so many different ways. Sunday night at Liverpool Olympia was one hell of a way to end things – not least because Hot Chip dropped an absolutely outrageous cover towards the end of their set.
I'm getting ahead of myself though. You couldn't ask for a sunnier start to the night with Jungle taking centre stage. They're a band that can do no wrong live – all of your worries just float away in the feel-good fiesta that engulfs the room as soon as heavy hitters like ‘Busy Earnin’' drop. Their setlist split the difference between their self-titled debut, and their most recent album For Ever, but every song clicks together so effortlessly, maintaining such a consistently positive vibe, it's perfect pacing and stagecraft. What you perhaps don't give enough credit to, listening to Jungle's albums in full, is the sheer talent of the musicianship at every level of the band. No figurative expense is spared, no one element seems ill-considered or overwrought, and quite how the sustained falsetto of John Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland doesn't remotely deteriorate over ten straight songs, I have no idea. I challenge you to watch the entire set and not feel better about anything that ails you, it's music as medicine in my book.
If you were looking for a good time, Chali 2na and Krafty Kuts most certainly had your back. The party atmosphere was immediate from the moment the two walked on-stage. A decidedly old school hip hop vibe, one DJ, one MC – rattling through hip hop classics new and old. Though he started with solo material, he quickly gave in to whizz through an abridged "best of" Jurassic 5 like we were all secretly hoping he would. He even took the time to do a whistle stop tour of old school hip hop – blowing through ‘C.R.E.A.M.’, ‘Shook Ones, Pt. II', ‘Still D.R.E.’ and ‘Ante Up’ because why on Earth wouldn't you if you can get away with it? Turns out one of the deepest voices in hip hop can still kill it, with or without the rest of J5 behind him.
Shifting gear somewhat and slowing things back down, enter The Cinematic Orchestra. A welcome change of pace giving us breathing room before the headlining Hot Chip. A sumptuous, sprawling set – understandably geared towards To Believe, their first studio album in 12 years. The Orchestra's signature blend of electronic nu jazz was a perfect comedown from the hip hop heights of Chali 2na and Krafty Kuts, along with the straight-up soul of Jungle before them. The crowd were getting restless at this point unfortunately, robbing the undeniably talented six-piece of the kudos they deserved for a tight, hitchless set – mixed perfectly so no single instrument went unnoticed. An under-appreciated set well worth catching up on.
Probably the one you're really here to read about, Hot Chip were everything you would hope them to be, and more. A crowd-pleasing and career-spanning set list balancing new and old, mainstream crowd-pleaser and deeper cut, there was a lot to like in Hot Chip's hour-long performance. For such an unassuming band, seemingly reluctant to draw much attention to themselves and just, well, get on with it and play the music – every track managed to hit all of the right notes with the audience. Even the one guy singing ‘Over And Over; at the end of the Cinematic Orchestra's set, and then proceeding to repeatedly throw his own phone on the floor. I wonder where that guy is now. I hope he's OK. It is worth noting that the band debuted two new singles in this set – ‘Hungry Child’ and ‘Spell’ – paving the way for an album later this year, surely? Keep your eyes peeled, I guess. And then one major upset, one surprising stroke of brilliance. They covered Beastie Boys’ ‘Sabotage’. Of all the bands that you would think would cover this song, you would not for a second think Hot Chip would be up for the job but, credit where credit's due, Alexis Taylor almost has the chops for it. It's a cover I'm not entirely sure worked in retrospect, but my God do I respect Hot Chip for giving it a go. Same time next year, yeah?
