Concert review: Michael Kiwanuka delivers grooving genius at the Commodore
Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2020 23:21:20 +0000
When: Tues. Jan. 28, 9 p.m.
Where: Commodore Ballroom, 868 Granville St.
Was Michael Kiwanuka telling the audience something by opening his stellar set at the Commodore Ballroom with Living In Denial?
The song from his latest, excellent, self-titled third record blends backing choruses that wouldn’t be out of place on a Burt Bacharach hit paired with a laid-back bluesy beat. Among the repeated lines is one about “are you really giving up?/Are you really going to stop right now, right now?”
The answer: Absolutely not. This was the opening invitation to experience one of the best performers coming out of the UK today.
From the reaffirming cautions of Hero to the crystal clarity of You Ain’t the Problem, Kiwanuka’s songs speak to facing challenge and hardships full-on and rising above them. Not that it’s easy. His world-weary, soulful vocals never let the listener off without understanding the cost of staying the course.
Backed by a spectacular trio and accompanied by two back up singers who could easily front their own bands, Kiwanuka was a study in ease. Eyes closed much of the time, he focussed on putting everything he had into delivering his genre-jumping soul music.
The influences heard in songs such as Black Man in a White World speak directly to the singer’s African heritage. His parents were refugees of Idi Amin’s reign of terror in Uganda; the grooves are totally indebted to Fela Kuti’s Nigerian Afrobeat. Then there is the sad, lamenting balladry of Love & Hate, complete with huge washes of orchestration that could have come off a hit album in the early sixties. The hit Cold Little Heart showcased his dexterous guitar skills, which bear more than a passing influence of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmore.
But, if you can hear Blind Faith in I’ve Been Dazed, it always needs to be noted that the voice propelling the piece along is wholly original. Kiwanuka has a fluid, deep and resonant instrument that pulls right on your heart strings. The crack band just meant that the music had that much more impact.
Like any show at the Commodore with good sound, the board had been relocated to the middle of the floor at the back of the room. One has to wonder why this isn’t just the constant location for the room, which often suffers from muddy, unbalanced mixes due mostly to the placement of the equipment, and not the person using it. If it cost a few spaces on the dance floor, it would be more than made up for by customers leaving smiling like they did last night.
I suspect that this musician’s star is rising and he will be in a much larger venue next time through. All of the music could easily transfer to an arena, but I’m sure glad it was in a space as intimate as it was.
The first contender for top 10 gigs of 2020 has happened.