By Finn Black
Photography: Charlotte Rudd
Thundercat brought his signature blend of soul-infused psychedelic jazz to Manchester’s Albert Hall on Wednesday. Over the past year we have seen Thundercat’s shift into the mainstream consciousness, most having heard one of his collaborations with the likes of Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller and Kamasi Washington.
“Are you ready to go down the rabbit hole?” he begins his set, asking the crowd. He is wearing a varsity jacket covered entirely in sequins, when he stands stage centre, he becomes a living mirror ball.
He dives directly into the track listing of the first half of his third solo album Drunk, barely taking a break between each song. It’s easy to forget where you are or what song was last, each evolving into something completely new. Thundercat extends and warps his songs to a point that by the time it end it sounds completely different to it’s beginning. After one or two of his uptempo tracks, he slows down to one of his more soulful serenades; his swelling, face-melting harmonies gliding beautifully across Albert Hall.
After playing the first half of Drunk, Bruner begins playing some of his older tunes such as ‘Tron Song’ and ‘Heartbreaks + Setbacks’. It’s clear how talented each member of his backing band is in their own right. Justin Brown is a drummer from another planet, Dennis Hamm seems to constantly be playing two keyboards at once, and the incredibly talented composer Miguel Atwood Ferguson absolutely shreds the violin.
Thundercat rounds off the set with three of his biggest songs: ‘Tokyo’ followed by ‘Friend Zone’, and finishing with ‘Them Changes’. The band played in a way that seemed effortlessly continuous, with a sound so raw and undiluted when compared to his recordings. And while his more pop influenced direction is by no means a bad thing, it’s still refreshing to see Thundercat’s energetic and unashamed jazz roots come out and play.
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