Live Review: OZ Soul Collective Australia Day Showcase @ The Toff In Town, Melbourne

The Toff in Town on Swanston Street in Melbourne's CBD must have possibly the coolest company logo in town, this little top hatted gentleman squiggle. Brilliant. As I arrive for tonight's Oz Soul Collective 'Australia Day Eve Showcase' I scope the crowd - 20 strong, low key, a nice mixture of mid-20’s riff-raff and 6-7 older types. Good to see. Head to the bar, the crowd's quiet, damn it, maybe turning up sober was a bad idea.

Runforyourlife are pumping away onstage, damn that DJ knows his stuff. Ella Thompson runs us through a couple of soul/RnB numbers, nice voice, a little shy but I think she’s easing into it just as much as the crowd are. By 8pm though we’re grooving along nicely, the beat picks up with an up-tempo jazzy number. Easy....

Our host for the night, Lotek, gets the crowd loose with his mixture of accapellla rhyme and comedic crowd interaction. He reminds me of that cheeky comedian mate every clique had in high school-always mischief but you gotta love ‘em. The crowd is filling out, a varied assortment, with a few old girls down the back having a good laugh. All good.

Able, Mz Rizk and Ella Thompson run through a couple of hip hop grooves, steady, the crowd are getting restless. 9.30pm now, 2nd beer, feeling fine, should have brought some mates along cause it’s that kind of buzz. Candice Monique & the Optics hit the stage, now we’re talking! Funk/jazz infused soul. This crew are tight, Monique sings with passion, the guitarist has a lazy playing style that’s nice and loose. If it’s the blues, it’s gotta be loose. They get the party rockin’ by their 4th no as the tempo picks up. Time to move up front get my groove on with the cool cats.

Now here’s one for the ages, Candice welcomes us to an 11 year old Tre Samuels, who then proceeds to serenade every woman in the room. Now this kid could be anything he sets his sights to - he’s got the looks, he’s got the talent. I’m thinking I just give up my wannabe busker career and write songs for this kid. As long as those corporate honchos don’t “Bieber-fy” him, he’ll be right. Swear the kid’s smooth, looks like an 11 year old NFA, sings like a young Timberlake. He does a rendition of ‘My Girl”, kills it - this singstar generation ain’t shy no chance.

Local boy done good Kojo brings his certain finesse to the microphone, almost a cocky strut but he certainly backs it up. Good energy, primo beats, charisma, sharp delivery, Aussie rap with a very slight nod to Shaggy. 10.30pm(ish) and the alcohol’s kicking. The first 2 rows are swinging when Florelie and her tight little 3 piece ensemble hit the stage. These guys are a step up in class, due respect, but man it’s clear these guys have been busy. Real tight, luscious soul/reggae, the crowd sway accordingly.

Now to the main man, NFA, seen this dude back in ’03 but he hasn’t aged a day. I think it’s RUNFORYOURLIFE backing him but my notes are rather dodgy by this stage as I’m on my 5th beer and I’ve decided I’m going “sensory notes”. FAILURE. All I remember was trying to high five NFA up front but he takes one look at me and knows I’m not down. He runs through a few of his new tracks, his lyrics have matured but he still has the energy of youth. Two turn-tables and a drummer, damn, that’s how you roll baby! This unit have got the phat sound, no doubt, held together well by the man but I still get the feeling the tone of his voice would work better offset with that of say, a soft feminine. Just an opinion.

Anyway, a great night for that price really, maybe best done with a couple of friends. Sweet.

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By Claude Aranui