Moneybrother
Live @ Camden Barfly, London, 03/24/05
This gig was a bit of a funny one. I could never have predicted the hysteria that would surround Moneybrother's first performance on English soil. I first became aware of this band at the Hultsfred Festival in 2003 when I was informed by a friendly stranger that I had to make Moneybrother one of the absolute priority bands to see that weekend. Unfortunately, I never made said gig. However, I made sure that I tracked down the "Blood panic" CD when I returned to the UK. I was intrigued by the cover which I guessed was a pastiche of Michael Jackson, but was ultimately only drawn in by "Reconsider me" and "Don't call the police". Those two tracks showed great promise.
Fast forward two years and I found myself at the Camden Barfly, with the band's new record "To die alone" sitting pretty at the top of the Swedish album chart. Somewhat predictably, the shoebox sized venue was completely sold out. Demand was so high that the promoter had oversold the show, selling an additional 150 tickets to the 180 which should have been on sale. The upshot of this nonsense was that when buzz support act The Modern (who I predict will be a great band for Melody Club to play alongside) finished their set, the entire crowd was kicked out of the venue and forced to queue up again to see Moneybrother. Only the lucky 180 with green wrist bands were granted exclusive access. It would be interesting to note how many of these people who were let back in were non-Swedish or non-industry people. I reckon you could probably count the number on one hand.
When Moneybrother eventually came on I was surprised at how tight the group was. When I found out that they had recently played an industry gig in America, I really didn't give them much of a chance of succeeding Stateside. However, the way in which the band seemed happy to change the arrangements of the recorded versions and skit off of each other made me think that they really could make it as a "jam" band over there. As most of the set was made up of songs from the new record (which I am unfamiliar with) the main body of the set was new to me. However, these new tracks seemed to be more sincere and varied than "Blood panic". I enjoyed how each member of the band was attired in a ridiculous fashion. For example, take the trombonist who was dressed head to toe in tight white denim. It takes balls to carry that look off, believe me.
By the time Moneybrother came on for their encore, the entire crowd was moshing and one brave chap attempted to crowdsurf. The band ended on a chaotic drawn out version of "Reconsider me". Moneybrother do justice to the once derided music genre of white soul. However, although the gig was an undoubtedly enjoyable experience, I expect the band to achieve greater success in the US than the UK due to their sound being more palletable to the tastes of the former market.
- Nick Levine