Jo Mango
>> King Tuts
>> 29th March 2006
With the recent release of the masterful ‘Paperclips and Sand’ album the Mango star is certainly in ascent, and it is an anticipatory crowd gathering here on a nippy March evening to catch a glimpse of its skyward trajectory.
But before all that there’s the support. With folk music it tends to be a case of ‘banter over matter’ and tonight’s first support act seem to stick to this template. But unfortunately, due to the Gaelic-y spelling, I’ve even forgotten what the first band was called! I remember it sounding like Robbie Williams does folk – a kind of ‘Angels’ of the pipe-smoke circuit but that’s it. Oh well.
Second on the bill was the truly wonderful Strike the Colours. Heart felt songs delivered with modesty and skill; the opposite of the solo mourn-a-long I was expecting. In fact, I bought the cd! Keep an eye out for them.
In contrast to the minimal solo sound of StC, Jo Mango came on stage sporting her full band. And they kicked off in style with an uplifting and (unintentionally) feedback drenched ‘Portuguese Skies’. It seems that Jo is as charismatic on stage as her music is on record. She has as brilliant an ability to dust off any technical blips as any front person I have seen. Perhaps because of this, the band comes off as being a genuinely solid unit rather than the one-woman show it could have been. Actually, it is fascinating to see the multi-layered craft that went into the album in a small-scale environment: but this is something to enjoy while we can because it probably won’t be long until Jo and Co are playing places big enough to have the space to dance along to the vibrant ‘Waltz with Me’, one of tonight’s highlights and hopefully one the few ¾ tunes that could divert the masses from their pop cud.
Tearing along at an alarming rate, and proving that laurels are not to be rested on, the band is soon showcasing a new song in the form of ‘Electricity’. A vamped up funk rocker, it really stands out from the crowd. It sounds a bit ‘jagged little pill’ but without all the bullshit. If the band is starting to evolve even at this early stage then it will be captivating to follow what they come up with next. (It seems to me that Jo Mango has an eye for the groove!)
As a gig to celebrate the launch of the album tonight couldn’t have gone any better. The crowd were right behind the performance, the star quality onstage was self-evident, the venue was perfect and the music captured the hypnotic quality of the record. What’s next? Who knows; but if there is a band that deserves to make it in the nü-folk/mainstream crossover, it is Jo Mango.
>> Russell Moore
www.jomango.co.uk
>> 29th March 2006
With the recent release of the masterful ‘Paperclips and Sand’ album the Mango star is certainly in ascent, and it is an anticipatory crowd gathering here on a nippy March evening to catch a glimpse of its skyward trajectory.
But before all that there’s the support. With folk music it tends to be a case of ‘banter over matter’ and tonight’s first support act seem to stick to this template. But unfortunately, due to the Gaelic-y spelling, I’ve even forgotten what the first band was called! I remember it sounding like Robbie Williams does folk – a kind of ‘Angels’ of the pipe-smoke circuit but that’s it. Oh well.
Second on the bill was the truly wonderful Strike the Colours. Heart felt songs delivered with modesty and skill; the opposite of the solo mourn-a-long I was expecting. In fact, I bought the cd! Keep an eye out for them.
In contrast to the minimal solo sound of StC, Jo Mango came on stage sporting her full band. And they kicked off in style with an uplifting and (unintentionally) feedback drenched ‘Portuguese Skies’. It seems that Jo is as charismatic on stage as her music is on record. She has as brilliant an ability to dust off any technical blips as any front person I have seen. Perhaps because of this, the band comes off as being a genuinely solid unit rather than the one-woman show it could have been. Actually, it is fascinating to see the multi-layered craft that went into the album in a small-scale environment: but this is something to enjoy while we can because it probably won’t be long until Jo and Co are playing places big enough to have the space to dance along to the vibrant ‘Waltz with Me’, one of tonight’s highlights and hopefully one the few ¾ tunes that could divert the masses from their pop cud.
Tearing along at an alarming rate, and proving that laurels are not to be rested on, the band is soon showcasing a new song in the form of ‘Electricity’. A vamped up funk rocker, it really stands out from the crowd. It sounds a bit ‘jagged little pill’ but without all the bullshit. If the band is starting to evolve even at this early stage then it will be captivating to follow what they come up with next. (It seems to me that Jo Mango has an eye for the groove!)
As a gig to celebrate the launch of the album tonight couldn’t have gone any better. The crowd were right behind the performance, the star quality onstage was self-evident, the venue was perfect and the music captured the hypnotic quality of the record. What’s next? Who knows; but if there is a band that deserves to make it in the nü-folk/mainstream crossover, it is Jo Mango.
>> Russell Moore
www.jomango.co.uk
