It felt like a night of cabaret. Watching one-man band Neosupervital strut across the dancefloor in a dapper suit and oversized sunglasses with their own inbuilt lightshow, and then piano man Duke Special and an exotic range of percussion instruments, it felt like the last decadent days of the Weimar Republic in beer and fag ash rock venue, the Borderline. And if you’ll allow some perspective deficiencies and good old hindsight, it since feels like it too came crashing down through violence and intimidation.

Yes, it was the night before London once more became the target of terrorists and we were all blissfully unaware of what tomorrow would bring. And why not when the entertainment is this good.

Neosupervital is Dubliner Tim O’Donovan a solo performer with a Korg, a drum machine and one of those old Casio guitar synths that ceased being the future of popular music in 1986. There’s certainly no pressing need for another electro revivalist group in music today, but thankfully, despite the array of evidence surrounding him on stage, Neosupervital isn’t like that. His take on electro is similar to that of Sweden’s The Knife, which is simply writing good songs in a certain style, not producing paint-by-numbers reminders of why people tired of electro in the first place. And he can cut it live.

Opening with anti-cool anthem ‘Alt. Day’ his sleek rhythms and theatrical flourishes draws the crowd from the back. He adds his own falsetto backing vocals on ‘Nothing’ and later bounds off the stage to unveil some ice cool and decidedly basic breakdance moves. The range of his voice is surprising as are some of the lovely sounds he wrenches from his instruments. ‘Jazz Fascist’ is a spacey, spooky warning against the uptight hepcats of the title that suddenly beefs up into an anthemic audience sing-a-long, and his recent radio single the excellent ‘Rachel’ gets a superb club mix.

It’s a brief but highly entertaining show. There are times where the songs might get lost amidst the show. But while there’s a great deal of irony and humour in the performance, the songs are sad, amusing, wistful and cutting. He’s not telling a joke, he’s making great music.

So too is the bedraggled and dreadlocked Pete Wilson, aka Duke Special who announces that a certain orange airline lost his bags on route to London. Despite this he remains engagingly cheery and upbeat throughout a wonderful set of songs based around his cabaret style of piano playing but tempered by the fierce emotional current of his voice. He is backed by a trumpeter and a percussionist –the latter with the strangest set of beat making devices the Borderline has even seen –and the vibes created by these two help dilute the sweetness of the songs. At times it’s like Badly Drawn Boy going mad in a drum shop. He does a solo cover of ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ that’s like a Belfast Scott Walker impersonator going for broke in a hotel lounge. The crowd love it and by the end the tiny basement venue is excited and optimistic about what tomorrow may bring.

words & photos: Colm Larkin

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