Golden Teacher + Blood Sport – Soup Kitchen, Manchester

For what must be their fledgling venture south of the border, Glaswegian outfit Golden Teacher rocked, rolled and jury-rigged to a decidedly techno beat. This however, was not some tough and ravey offering, as some may expect with their association to JD Twitch’s Optimo Music. The six piece band just ooze an unashamedly different kind of cool.

Warming up local jock John Loveless gathered together a simmering breadth of boogie, disco and flavours of the world. His first interim set finished up with the fantastically groovy ‘Good Name’ by the mysterious William Onyeabor, though it was rather abruptly faded out as support act, Blood Sport signaled their readiness.

The trio, currently based in Sheffield, had a constant kick to their beat. The vest wearing drummer kept his wrists flicking over the taut hi-hats, while his foot stomped on the hollowed out bass drum. 

Drenched in a wicked green light that densely washed over their flailing bodies, it was poignantly fitting for the overall acid-not-acid feel about the music. Its psychedelic music with definite boundaries. though the possibilities within the confines of a four-to-the-floor still congruously allows for terrific bouts of ingenuity.

Blood Sport’s set ended somewhat abruptly. Seemingly technology was to blame, which, when incorporated by bands can be a dream addition to their sound. That ‘dream’, though, can quickly become an obsolete nightmare.

By now, those who made it down – which surprisingly wasn’t even into triple figures – were all grooving to the same rhythm. Loveless again showed his dexterity behind the decks, keeping things simple, but interesting.

And then, as the crew of six that make up Golden Teacher’s ranks took to the stage, jaws fell ajar and eyes flitted across the stage, as onlookers comprehended what and who was standing before them. 

Plainly, Golden Teacher aren’t your average sorts. Fronted by an Afro-Hispanic bootylicious babe and a stick thin shaggy haired twenty something, who obviously descends from the far east. Their role consists equally in parts of vocalists, dancers, performers and party starters, but believe that this is not some modern day spin on Bez’s position in the Mondays. Their moves, and even at times the content of their lyrical flow, may seem spontaneous and of the moment, though watch a little closer and you will see these are artistically inclined exports of one of the more ‘liberal’ shall we say, art scenes in the world.

They’ve a definite taste for the art of performance, or should that be performance art? With a percussionist/hardware operator dressed in drag, the lines are hazily blurred, as are the rest of bands specific roles.

Between songs that go on for near ten minutes, members swap places and instruments, which was beautiful to see, because though they may not be technically the most accomplished of musicians, what they are willing to do is try things, rather than simply stick to the rigidity of a singular position within their musical make up.

One thing they didn’t do was play any of their old material. Not that they are a band well into their career with a thick back catalogue that’s equally loved and loathed by different sectors of their fans. Though to hear the exquisite squeaks of ‘Golden Chalice’ would have been wicked. The new material, particularly that off their yet to be released ‘Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night’ was rhythmically pounding and matched with bizarre and uniquely styled vocals. The bellowing and slightly Caribbean styled vocals of their leading lady were entrancing, perfectly suited for the progressive nature of their music.

This merging of bands and club centered music has spawned a number of exciting acts, that soon will be labelled and genred under some pretentious banner that the hip and the cool can claim to be a fan of. And when that time comes Golden Teacher will be leading the way, maybe even teaching the rest on what they should be doing better and how to do it.