Its been a big year for Marcus Azon and Pepa Knight, the brain children behind NSW’s next big thing, Jinja Safari. The boys hit up the East Brunswick Club for the final show of their Forest Eyes Tour, bring Fishing and Alpine along with them for the ride.
With Alpine cancelling due to illness, it was left up to Sydney duo Fishing to warm up the crowd. The sample based movember sporting hipsters, are yet another bland act who bounce around behind their laptops cranking out 80’s influenced, super Mario Kart sound effect kind of music that would be enjoyable in the right setting, but is hellishly boring to watch live. The music itself was nothing particularly special, more big beats, miscellaneous noise and irritating Darth Vader sound effects on the mic that got a few laughs from the crowd, but ultimately Fishing are better left to a 2am slot in dancehall where people are losing themselves in the music and the moment, not having to watch them awkwardly bobbing up and down onstage at a sober 9:30pm on a Friday night, with no stage presence or entertainment value whatsoever.
Fortunately Jinja Safari took the stage soon after and washed away the badness with yet another magical performance. Here is a band who make gorgeous, fun music that actually knows how to entertain a crowd, and in spite of this being the third time I’ve seen their live show in as many months, Jinja Safari are still fresh, innovative and a delight to dress up and ugly dance with. For a relatively new act they’ve already established a dedicated fan base, with a multitude of punters decked out in forest greens and animal attire who immediately lost their shit as the band opened with new single “Forest Eyes”.
Jinja Safari kept the mood on a high playing fan favourite “Peter Pan” a long with a few new tracks from their forthcoming EP. They had the audience eating out of the palms of their hands, insisting that the entire band room sit down on the floor and enjoy a quiet moment with “Vagabond”, engaging us in a call and response game with the joyous “Families” and inviting us all up onstage for some ugly dancing to the final track of the night, which saw the eclectic percussionist Alister Roach at his crazy best, how that man survives a set without dislocating his shoulders is beyond me.
The chemistry between Marcus and Pepa is electric and their energetic live shows are one of those wondrous experiences that everybody needs to have. Their music is overwhelmingly happy with the mix of afro pop rhythms, folk melodies and barefoot stomping that left the crowd spilling out of the bandroom sweaty and exhausted with big beaming smiles on their faces. We love you Jinja Safari. Come back to Melbourne soon.
