Balkan Beat Box, Dingwalls

“I can’t fucking hear yer!” are not the welcoming words one expects to hear from a world music favourite, it has to be said. But the audience at Dingwalls don’t look like the usual world music crowd either. This Brooklyn trio have clearly crossed over into the more lucrative club global category, and their hyperactive light show is further evidence of this. But good luck to them, because they are certainly the best of the bunch at doing this whole funky, jazzy, ragga, reggae thing, as well as being far more interesting than the more pantomime-like Gogol Bordello (of which Tamir Muskat used to be a member). My only concern was that it was just going to be the three prime movers of the band on stage glued to their laptops, which never makes for an edifying live spectacle.

But Tamir Muskat, Orin Kaplan and Tomer Yosef were in fact joined by Itamar Ziegler on bass, Uri Kinrot on guitar and Eyal Talmudi on sax and clarinet. Their first number, “Move It”, set the tone for the evening with its chunky, muscular groove, which managed to sound powerfully Jamaican while still incorporating elements of Balkan and Middle Eastern brass. Vocalist Tomer has really come into his own on their new album Blue Eyed Black Boy and, by incorporating his talents as a front man far more, the band have cultivated a unique identity that wasn't so apparent on their debut. Tomer handles both the passages of rapid-fire rap and the singalong choruses with equal panache, and also works the crowd well. Although they are only too willing to shake their multicultural booties at every opportunity with little prompting.

“Are you ready to party with us tonight? Are you ready?” Well, I’m not sure really. The relentlessly strobing lights are beginning to get a bit wearing, and I think I would have been just as happy staying at home and listening to the new album, the subtleties of which are getting a little lost because the band have to focus on getting the crowd dancing. But don’t get me wrong, Balkan Beat Box are a great live band. And in fact they were a lot livelier than I anticipated they would be. At times I was reminded of the golden age of Jamaican ska when the focus was on short, sharp pop songs, but there was still room for a great trumpet or sax solo before the fade. And Ori and Eyal both delivered some fine solos, as well as playing well as a pair.

“Everybody feeling all right?” Rhetorical question or not, bands never tire of asking it, and I never like being asked it. And once again it’s a shame when a band of this quality still has to trot out this stuff. But I was feeling all right, and one of their encore songs made me feel even better. The title track from the new album is the most original tune Balkan Beat Box do. It rides slowly into town on the most sinuous and mercurial of bass lines, and doesn’t seem to pander to any generic dance-floor needs. And then next up was the wonderfully bombastic “War Again”. Wonderful that is, until we are asked, “Do you want to hear the remix?” The answer, of course, is no, because they got it right first time around, and remixes are nearly always about hammering home some hook in the original song until you beg for mercy. But we got it anyway.

As I leave, the band were supremely tight, bashing out a jagged, intense ragamuffin track I was unfamiliar with. Delighted audience members joined them on stage, the strobing lights building in intensity, and I was trying to remember if I ever really enjoyed this kind of event. But, hey, maybe I just wasn’t in the mood. Because, really, Balkan Beat Box are an excellent band.

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