Concert Review: TOI at Neck of the Woods, 30 July 2021

TOI delivered tight rhythmic grooves of Funk and Soul and disciplined extended jams to Neck of the Woods, one of the subterranean music haunts of iconic Karangahape Road, late on Friday night.

Where there‘s music and there’s people and they’re young and alive. In one of the few areas of life left in the central city.

TOI are a re-booted version of original Wellington band Tunes of I. The crew assembled tonight as follows. Conway Jeune lead vocals and guitar, Luther Hunt drums, Makura Tomoana bass, Jules Blewman lead guitar, Daniel Hayles keyboards, Bryn Van Vliet saxophone and Kaito Walley trombone and percussion.

As the current ensemble they have notched up some stellar support slots within the last few years. In Spark Arena they fronted for Tash Sultana which was an incredible music experience that I attended.  Also, Red Hot Chili Peppers, UB40 and the Original Wailers is on their impressive CV.

The show tonight is part of a promotional tour for a brand-new self-titled EP.

I Want You. What they do on stage with their smooth Soul with liberal dash of Pacific Reggae is turn up the Funk motor. The lead guitar lays out some outer-space textures. The drummer snaps on the One beat and rules for the entire show. Not too flashy, just dominant and can swing. So, there is a bit of Jazz in there somewhere.

Fushing (NZ dialect). They call this a slow one but there are hand drums to lift the rhythmic drive. What they add is spacey keyboard tones which have a touch of the Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells sound.

Lean Back is classic Seventies Soul Funk. As is Tangerine. Starts slowly and builds to a hard Disco groove helped along by second turbo of the engine room, the bass guitar. I just can’t stop to find it. The percussionist plays a triangle which looks absolutely cool on stage. I couldn’t hear it tonight and I’m hard-pressed to pick it out on the EP.

Chameleon has a circling riff drone which reminds a little of Isaac Haye’s Theme from Shaft. Here is a great example of when the drum and bass lock in the rhythm and the band extend out whilst remaining absolutely tight. Irresistible dance grooves and they deserve their reputation as a great live performance act.

Those are all off the featured EP.

The Circle is off their earlier LP Restless. The horns are out front here and blend with the keyboards. At least I think that is where the popping riff drone is coming from. Then the ‘Bone launches into superb Maceo Parker-styled Funk solo which gets admiration from the rest of the band.

They put a bit of airy Kraftwerk Techno into Ice Cream. Superb syncopated drum solo and the band come back in with flashy Funk riffs.

Wicked Ways and Kiss the Sky. Lead guitar plays extended rhythm patterns of electronic Funk in the best style of the Isley Brothers in their Seventies incarnation. When they took the lessons from their earlier hired-hand guitarist Jimi Hendrix. The first of the black artists to start incorporating his innovations once the Black community got over their prolonged rejection of him.

Solar Rays for the encore after the audience demand one. Solar rays ablaze if you care. Nice laid-back Reggae vocals. Most of the set the voice does get a bit buried in the mix. An extra trumpet has joined to add some Ska to the horn section.

Hard but smooth. Unshakeable dance grooves.

A brief mention to No Cigar, of whom I caught the last three songs. They sound like a louche Rock outfit with a fair amount of R’n’B, giving them a sound similar to a Seventies Southern American band.

Ticket to Space has a nice Urban Blues lead guitar solo and the singer has a style similar to the early Doobie brothers, which makes them interesting, and worthy of further research.

Rev Orange Peel