Hungry for the Power? Emma McAlpine reviews Canadian dance band Azari and III's biggest UK gig to date.
The last time I saw Azari and III, they were performing to a crowd of no more than 30 people in a dance tent at Glastonbury at 4pm. I was right at the front (there wasn’t much competition) and making good use of the space, jumping and swaying like a drunk grasshopper. What a difference seven months makes. Having been dubbed “The most influential dance act in the world” by NME and reissued their second album with major label Island Records last month; tonight the Canadian house quartet play their biggest UK gig to date in Heaven and the 420-capacity dancefloor is rammed. I can jiggle at best.
It feels kind of weird to be at a Thursday night dance ‘gig’, with people filming videos on their phones and sitting on top of their mates' shoulders. If it wasn’t for the bottle of poppers I spy one guy passing around, we could almost be watching Take That. It goes to show just how popular house music has become in the last year, no longer is it confined to the bowels of pill-popping clubland.
Another key to Azari and III’s success is their live performances. Their shows are a spectacle in themselves, with Alixander III on the keyboards and Dinamo Azari hammering the electronic drums. These two enter the stage first, building atmosphere with the eerie, synth-laden ‘Manhooker’ before singers Fritz Helder and Cedric ‘Starving Yet Full’ Gasiada saunter on to sing ‘Hungry for the Power’; Cedric’s rich soulful vocals: “I’m hungry for your love” fluctuating with Fritz’s low growls: “Love is not enough.”
It’s not just their voices that energise the crowd; the two vocalists are brilliant showmen: Fritz dressed in what appears to be neoprene dungarees and an oversized diamante Darth Vader necklace; Cedric sporting in skin-tight leopard leggings, neon-pink lipstick and earrings Pat Butcher would have been proud of. Like two big kids, practicing dance routines in their bedroom, they always have a ball on stage and never take themselves too seriously. They are also amusingly camp: “Ceddy, I just broke my necklace!” wails Fritz halfway through the gig. “Oh well, it means I was having fun.”
Highlights of the gig are the 2009 dancefloor banger ‘Reckless With Your Love' which sees the two frontmen joined by a group of dancers suitably attired in '80s gear. Holding light sticks, the group vogue into the mosh pit, while a crowd gathers around them jacking to the beats. Less uplifting but more hypnotic are the group’s darker, staccato-y tunes like ‘Manic’ which leave the crowd jerking to the paranoid-edged vocal loop: “It’s a manic, it’s a manic world.”
They save one of my favourite tracks - 'Into the Night' - for the encore, showcasing that hook-laden Chicago house sound they do so well, lifted by Cedric's syrupy voice: “You know you’ve got to give it to the night/Live like you’re alive”. Beaming and sweating, they leave the stage shouting “London thank you so much!” to a sea of rapturous applause. It’s certainly an apt song to finish on.
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