Tuesday, November 11, 1997
Chumbawamba draws a diverse crowd
MUSIC Political ideas mixed with with a good dose of fun at the
Palace
By Sandra Kim
Daily Bruin Contributor
A pre-show fortune cookie reads, "You are entering a time of
great promise and overdue rewards." How ironic that cookie was, for
on Tuesday night, the rambunctious, confident, yet politically
minded Chumbawamba played to a sold-out audience at the Palace.
Long overdue for recognition and success, Chumbawamba, like the
zaniness of its name, proved they can be both fun and
significant.
People of all colors (hair, body and ethnicity) littered the
stairs and balcony, including teenagers to middle-aged adults with
nose and eyebrow rings, Chinese dresses and fancy black togas.
With eight albums already out, including its latest,
"Tubthumper," this eight-person band deserves every bit of the
"promise" included in that fortune cookie. With their Los Angeles
appearance, Chumbawamba delivered a loud and colorful concert full
of costumes, props, and politics, perfect for the Hollywood
scene.
With the cornucopia of songs chosen for the night, Chumbawamba
demonstrated its ability to deliver songs of beautiful adversity
with its soothing a-cappella voices, soaring over its ’80s-style
dance mix and ’90s techno/rave synthesizers, incorporating grinding
guitars, flaring trumpets and crashing drums.
Songs such as "Amnesia" and "The Good Ship Lifestyle" are full
of clamoring chaos and emotion. But through this, Chumbawamba
offered the audience not only music to dance and have fun to, but
also to think about.
Chumbawamba’s first two songs offered a taste to their newest
fans of their free spirit, spewing out all the no-no words
imaginable. The trumpet overlays within the songs added a dynamic
effect to the repetitious lyrics, causing the crowd to scream in
agreement to ultra-cool trumpeter, Jude Abbot.
Fellow "tubthumper" Alice Nutter, never failed to please and
excite the audience, coming out in different controversial
costumes, such as a red nun’s habit, with cigarette in one hand and
whiskey bottle in the other, for "Mary Mary." Her outfits
complimented the band’s music perfectly.
Vocalist Danbert "The Cat" Nobacon, added a theatrical flair to
the performance, with his villain-like baldness (think the bad guy
from "Austin Powers") and brick patterned business suit. He was in
perfect style for the song, "Creepy Crawling," with his sinister
moves and hunched- over demeanor, singing, "All the creeps go
creepy crawling/ Same thing every night." In addition to singing
and playing the keyboard, he also provided the working class clank
of metal hammering steel in the flexible improv, "That’s How
Grateful We Are."
Then there was "Tubthumping," the highlight of the evening and
closer for the first set, as well as the top modern-rock hit in the
country. This song captures the essence of Chumbawamba’s belief in
the spirit of endurance, of never letting go and always getting
back up. "Tubthumping" vocalist Dunston Bruce happily sung "I get
knocked down/But I get up again/You’re never going to keep me
down." The audience, of course, went berserk, jumping up and down,
and whirling round and round, as Chumbawamba rocked out to their
now popular song.
Another stand-out song was "The Day the Nazis Die," reminiscent
of an Irish folk song. The band had the audience clapping along to
the 2-4 beat of this cheerily ironic ditty. This song, along with
"Tubthumping," with their approaches to diversity, determination
and the human spirit, proves that this 15-year-old band knows how
to create good vibes.
Even in the tobacco- and pot-smoke haze of the Palace,
Chumbawamba spoke to all, loud and clear, and delivered a message
of resistance against oppression, revolution and yet optimism. Most
of all, they spoke with a winning spirit. Looks like Chumbawamba
lived up to its fortune-cookie prophesy.
Universal Records
Chumbawamba played energetic and political music at the
Palace