LIVE REVIEW: The Lounge Kittens @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester
There’s a lot to be said in modern music for the incorporation of comedy and the audience that doing so can bring. Indeed, whether in the form of parody employed by the likes of STEEL PANTHER and WEIRD AL YANKOVIC, or the joking around often found in many revered pop-punk acts, it often seems to be the case that laughter can really add another dimension to live music. Southampton trio THE LOUNGE KITTENS make a slightly different case within this notion; taking established rock hits from the likes of SYSTEM OF A DOWN, as well as chart-toppers from acts like SEAN PAUL and reworking them as works of three-part harmony based genius – with a few extra surprises thrown in to boot, in a formula that’s led to them making festival appearances across the country and sharing stages with the likes of LIMP BIZKIT and STATUS QUO to name but a couple. Having recently released their latest EP, Have Another, we caught up with Jen, Zan and Timia at The Deaf Institute in Manchester, where a sold-out crowd beckoned.
Before all that though, it falls to fellow Southampton native Grant Sharkey to open proceedings. Armed with simply a double bass and a microphone, the softly-spoken performer’s appearance is hardly that of your average rockstar, but then again, tonight is all about surprises. What follows over the next 45 minutes or so is a set that can only be described as a part RAG AND BONE MAN soul and part Nick Helm anarchic comedy, as the singer and his double-bass set about making every last punter laugh their head off for an entire performance, with a riotous set of often politically-charged songs from his ongoing project of twice-yearly releases currently sitting at 12 out of a proposed 40. Across the all-too-brief feeling set, Sharkey takes aim at racists (I’m Sorry To Hear You’re A Racist and Muslims), rips on Brexiteers (Pubes and Toenails (The Brexit Song)), takes potshots at sexists, transphobes and Donald Trump (Genitals), lampoons the Russian President (If I Were Vladimir Putin) and cracks jokes about countless others, in a relentlessly full-on set that doesn’t so much toe the line as it does proudly long jump it and stand there gleefully giggling.
All throughout, Sharkey’s alternatingly earnest and cheeky delivery really draws his audience in and showcases his immense charisma, to the point where even a borderline striptease during one particularly comedic moment just feels like par for the course. It’s hardly the most musically complex set in the world, but that barely matters at all when the lyrical content is so relentlessly and brilliantly comedic in tone. Considering where the world is at right now, performances like that of Grant Sharkey’s tonight feel like a welcome takedown of increasingly ludicrous situations, and we can only imagine where he’ll be at by the time he hits release number 40.
Rating: 8/10
Tonight’s main attraction though, are of course THE LOUNGE KITTENS, and emerging on-stage in their trademark sequinned gear, the trio waste absolutely no time launching into a slow soulful build that begets their cover of DJ Fresh’s hit Gold Dust. An instant crowd-pleaser, it’s a cut that immediately gives each Kitten a chance to showcase their individual vocal prowess atop Jen’s effervescent keyboard playing. The band’s famous Pop Punk Medley soon follows, as the entire Deaf Institute bellows along to the painstakingly crafted fusion of some of the genre’s true greats including BLINK 182, GOOD CHARLOTTE, BOWLING FOR SOUP and PANIC! AT THE DISCO. The comedy chops of the Kittens are put to great effect here, particularly when they inject witty barbs into the likes of I Write Sins Not Tragedies that half the room can’t help but crack up at. More from the rock world follows next, with the trio’s bouncy take on SYSTEM OF A DOWN’s ridiculous Violent Pornography, before a total left-turn leads the by-now delighted crowd firmly into cheesy territory with a rendition of Lionel Richie’s All Night Long, leading to the brilliant sight of several metal band shirt-clad people absolutely bellowing their heads off to the pop classic.
One of the most outrageously funny laugh-out-loud moments of the entire evening though, comes with the trio’s take on the BLOODHOUND GANG’s innuendo-rammed Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo, which has just about every person in the room (the Kittens included) on the verge of cracking up, with its’ increasingly dirty lyrics playing off hilariously against the band’s lounge jazz-esque arrangement. It’s followed by a second medley – this time their genius 90’s Cartoon Medley, which melds the theme songs to beloved shows including Transformers, Inspector Gadget, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Animaniacs and more (“it’s my job to make strangers sing Pokémon with me”, Zan gleefully quips afterward), before the trio return to rock with a brilliant pairing of The Middle by JIMMY EAT WORLD and One Step Closer by LINKIN PARK. It’s around this point that things take a turn for the serious, with the Kittens all referencing Chester Bennington’s death and disclosing their own recent struggles as they move on to their touching AVICII Medley (with percussion and general larking about provided by a returning Grant Sharkey), and dedicate their medley of THE PRODIGY’s greatest hits, Smack My Firestarter To Outer Space, to the recent passing of Keith Flint.
After all that, it’s impossible not to feel at least a touch emotional, and THE LOUNGE KITTENS evidently recognise this, bringing the positive energy back with a rousing run-through of THUNDER’s uber-ballad Love Walked In, that quickly gives way to a couple of old THE LOUNGE KITTENS favourites – the ridiculous Gloryhole by STEEL PANTHER and LIMP BIZKIT’s iconic nu-metal anthem Rollin’. Both are evidently massive favourites for the Manchester crowd, and the latter’s dance steps suddenly break out all across the venue floor within moments of the first notes hitting, much to the apparent delight of the band themselves.
Closing out the evening on one final high note is arguably THE LOUNGE KITTENS’ most hit-filled medley – the appropriately-titled Bangers Medley, which throws the likes of QUEEN, STATUS QUO, BOSTON, ADAM ANT, HEART, THE WHO and tons more into a giant musical blender, with the result being a near-deafening chorus from The Deaf Institute crowd in response, as the trio look on with massive grins on their faces as they essentially lead a several hundred strong choir through some of the last few decades’ biggest anthems, before finally bringing their set to a close to the soundtrack of thunderous applause. From start to finish, tonight has been nothing short of hilarity incarnate, and yet again, THE LOUNGE KITTENS have proved themselves to be one of the most entertaining and creative forces in live music today, with a wide-ranging catalogue capable of appealing to seemingly almost anybody.
Rating: 8/10
Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in Manchester from Jacob Kazara here:
