Tuxedo – The Studio (Concert Review)

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There was a touch of class on K Road Friday night as Tuxedo hit the Studio for the launch of Splore 2016.

The side project of Grammy-nominated soul singer Mayer Hawthorne and Hip Hop producer Jake One, Tuxedo is the result of an exchange of 80’s boogie funk mixtapes in 2006. The two realised they had a mutual love of bands like Zapp, Shalamar and Chic, and have been bringing the funk back with DJ sets around the world.

The snazzily attired Americans would have been happy with the amount of bowties and beautiful ladies packed into the Studio, which itself was decked out with a massive tinsel mop, disco ball and crazy inflatable arm-waving men (in tuxedos of course).

Splore Festival Director John Minty confirmed the theme for the February 19-21 event – A Summer Odyssey – that will feature the inaugural Travellers’ Ball. Then as he sensed the crowd’s anticipation he introduced the dynamic disco duo onto the stage.

Mayer came on and declared, “We did not come all the way to New Zealand to chill, we came to party!”

And party they did, kicking things off with the boogie beats of R U Ready. The Studio made the gig feel like a classy intimate gathering at Mayer’s house, straight out of his Henny & Gingerale clip.

With drinks in hand, their laidback funky vibe was infectious and the humming crowd lapped up their unique DJ set of live vocals, samples, turntables and effects. The air-horn activated by a big red buzzer was a fun interactive audience experience.

Jake One had the turntable on a string, mixing old-school 80’s disco and funk songs from the likes of Evelyn Champagne King, Delegation and Rick James amongst countless others.

Tuxedo turned it up a notch with “that real funk shit” as Mayer got back on mic and took us into the Danger Zone, a cover of 80’s funk band Midnight Express.

The old-school party reached a high when they cracked out fan favourites, first their biggest hit Do It, followed a few songs later by Mayer’s never-fail Henny & Gingerale. When that song went down arms and drinks were in the air having a good time.

Mayer was the ultimate host, charming as hell as he got the crowd to sing-along. There was a definite lift of energy when he took the microphone; when Tuxedo played Tuxedo jams it went off, and when the two were behind the turntables there were a few lulls.

Just after an hour of electric funk Mayer said they were supposed to finish, “but I think we should keep going!” But the following 15 minutes on the turntable was just a little too long, an hour set would have been tight.

They finished strong though with the pulsing grooves of Number One, and said goodbye to a happy and danced-out crowd. It was with a cheeky wink in the eye as the seductive sounds of Get U Home played out as we exited. A smartly tailored old-school session that will hopefully return to Splore in 2016.

Clayton Barnett

 

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