After seeing Booka Shade live at KOKO, Sofi Goddard leaves wanting More
It feels strange, if not slightly maverick, of me to pitch my conclusions before customarily showing how I reached them, but sometimes cutting to the chase is more fitting. Go see Booka Shade live. Possibly in a really top notch venue, like this one.
I arrive at Koko in Camden a little after the show kicked off having taken the advice of a friend who went to see them last year and said they didn't start until really late. And I'm feeling a little impatient until I emerge from the low red corridor to the sight of Arno on his drums and Walter behind his sound engineer desk, surrounded by a crowd that can't take their eyes off them. The atmosphere is spirited as Booka Shade fans alike dance, hands in the air, and drink in 'Paper Moon', 'Charlotte', 'Outskirts', 'Night Falls' and 'Havanna Sex Dwarf' to name a few.
Having taken almost a year and half off to put together their fourth artist album and generally rest, you can sense both Kammermeier and Merziger are very happy to be back on stage. They play several tracks from 'More', their new album, the name and meaning of which resonate very clearly when they perform tracks such as 'Regenerate', which attests to their dancier, edgier and braver sound. It is still distinctly Booka Shade but boldly back and in an adventurous mood. It's safe to say this particular track goes down an absolute storm.
Moreover the venue is Koko, a converted Victorian theatre, warmly ornamented with red and gold, glittering disco ball globes and honeycomb boxes and balconies, meaning you can get any view you want. Renowned for making any gig special, seeing Booka Shade here makes the experience doubly awesome, an opinion everyone seems to share.
As you'd expect from their German techno/minimal roots, the performance is flawless as each track melts into the next and Arno hardly breaks a sweat it seems. Walter politely introduces almost every track and when the last tune plays out, they bow, courteously thank the crowd, and depart right on the dot of 11.00.
Having listened to the Booka Shade albums, 'Movements', 'Memento' and 'The Sun & The Neon Light' rather a lot, it is in no way comparable to their live shows. Not because they are visually astounding performances but because you can't substitute that throbbing bass that tickles your toes, those ecstatic highs and drops, and euphoric beats that just make you smile, broadly.
Booka Shade are back and set to perform across the board of festivals this summer, from Rockness this June and Lovebox this July, to Sonar in Barcelona and Melt in Berlin. Happy busy days.
Read Lowri's interview with Booka Shade here.
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