A Certain Ratio,Chik Budo Live Review @ Dingwalls - Lock 17 (Camden) - 16 Jun 2009

A Certain Ratio

Live Review

Manchester has always been a hotbed of legends and myths. Here's one - 42 people turned up to the Sex Pistol's 1st Manc gig at the Free Trade Hall and history was made (plus attendees formed bands etc etc). Here's another - 40 people turned up to see A Certain Ratio at the infamous Factory nightclub Hacienda's opening night and history was made again. Tonight, around the same number witnessed a sparky jazz-rave set by support-band-of-the-evening Chik Budo and a small part of me also felt that history was in the making. CB have probably purchased a few Pigbag, Rip Rig & Panic and Defunkt albums in their young lives so fair play. They mix free jazz and dance to good effect while adding a topping of LCD Soundsystem to boot. I like.

But tonight well, that belongs to A Certain Ratio. Factory producer supremo, Martin Hannett, exclaimed to one of the many bands on the label to "play faster but slower" - it may well have been ACR. During tonight's cracking performance they played at a normal speed - "slower but faster" - sort of. 300 or so people should feel very privileged tonight - history was being made yet again.

The band kindly indulged in a short Q&A session with the audience and Beat Happening - light hearted questions all. But the music did all of the talking and strutting and bouncing, kicking off with "Choir" from debut album "To Each" and picking up other early classics such as "Flight", "Forced Laugh" and "Waterline". Cover versions are a rarity in the ACR repertoire but the irresistible "Shack Up" suitably out Banberra'd the original by a country mile or twenty. It was at this point that I began to wonder how the hell-on-rocks this versatile and soulful band failed to warrant decent sales of their engaging back catalogue. Ah - it must be the songs. Or the quality of their music. "Do The Du" and "Be What You Wanna Be" confirm this - tighter than tight. Even the sympathetic rendition of Joy Division's "Heart & Soul" befitted the occasion.

Later tracks from their recent hard-to-find album "Mind Made Up", and the shifty "Mickey Way" and "Wild Party" offer up a glimpse of how the band have progressed without leaving their love of Disco and Funk behind - ACR were one of the first independent-label bands to merge soul with rock - go and listen to their acclaimed "To Each" or "Graveyard & The Ballroom" for proof.

And so to the ubiquitous encore - and what an encore. "Knife Slits Water" is a melting pot of ankle-biting bass and heart-slapping beats and shows Donald Johnson's unabated talent on bass (and Martin Moscrop's affable approach to funky drumming). Final track "Si Firmir O Grido" prompts the use of whistles, bells and bongos combined with an audience entranced - Salfordian Samba delivered with panache and craft. Wythensamba anyone?

The great thing is ACR have never bowed to labels or genres but instead have continued to work bloody hard and roll out some seriously influential music in the past 3 decades. The fake tan obviously worked. To quote a sample used on "Be What You Wanna Be" - "nice outfit....."

Paul Pledger