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Live acts live and die by their ability to rise above squalid dive bars like Metros that masquerade as ‘venues’. Most people who go to watch live music know the territory, the gritty dishevelled basement and the dim lighting with a sound system that sounds like it is stewing in a baked bean can. Some groups only ever manage to go as far as noise in places like this. Opening act Ezra Bang falls straight into this category with a one-man demonstration of provocative B-boy disco grime that flatters to deceive at first but quickly becomes boring. One can’t fault the look he has which is a cut above, verging somewhere between Wesley Snipes and Iggy Pop. But any MC worth his salt needs to have his rhymes heard and one are left with the feeling that you’d be better off on his MySpace page rather than onstage here.
Follow-up act 28 Costumes have no problem in this respect delivering a set of absolutely fantastic songs that have jaws dropping all over the place. Tracks such as ‘Apologies’ and ‘Electrical Fever’ are true sing-along classics but there is more here then meets the eye. This is a band that is not afraid to mix it up with a set that features the band snoring in unison on the brilliant ‘Don’t Go To Sleep Downstairs’, on stage joking and amusing crowd banter. Despite this, one can’t help feeling disappointed at the rather poor turn-out for a group that are one of best things that this listener has heard in a while.
The night ends somewhat limply with the NERD esque Kojo bringing the spirits down with a competent but fairly middle of the road set that makes you wonder why they were headliners after a group like 28 Costumes. In the end, it’s best not to dwell on this because in the end the Cossies provided enough entertainment to last the night.
