Well an evenings feast for the eyes, ears and soul. This three course banquet come with a large helping of music, a splatter of funk, a pinch of style and a handful of grooves, it certainly is a luscious event for even the hungriest of patrons.

Jamiroquai’s Funk Odyssey tour gave its helpings out tonight to the famished Cardiff audience, but it was Beverley Knight who go the taste buds working as the sumptuous appetisers…yes the warm up act!

Having to start on a cold audience is never easy, but Beverley managed it astoundingly. Her unique soulfullness brought the crowd alive and gave a taste of what’s to come. Starting off slowly…by the time she reached her current hit, “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda” the crowd really were lapping up her fisty assay attitude. Her renditions of “Made It Back” and “Flavour Of The Old School” from her older albums also were firm favourites. A rare stunning voice was backed by a powerful band and a few lights, but it really was Beverly who lit up the stage, especially as she left in a blaze of glory leaving the crowds mouths watering, waiting with anticipation for the main course. 

Then they arrived. The lights dim, the crowd goes wild and the strobe begins. The show comes alive as the curtain is dropped to reveal what can only be describe as an Aztec temple, a shine to the great Jay Kay. The three-storied temple with stairs down the middle was the viewpoint for the next two hours as Jay Kay jumped, skipped, hopped and pranced around all three levels. Introducing the mighty fine band including on the top levels, a percussionist (Sola Akingbola) and drummer(Derrick McKenzie), in the middle two keyboardist’s (Toby Smith and Some other bloke!) and Nick Fyffe on the Bass. Then down at the bottom we had Jay Kay himself and Rob Harris on guitar, and three sumptuous backing singers.

The show was a real visual feast, a brilliantly co-ordinated lighting rig emphasised every note and beat of this funk music. The band blended established audience favourites in with new songs from their latest album. Space Cowboy was a huge audience favourite with Cosmic Girl, Love Foolosophy, You Give Me Something and Black Crow playing adding different and outstanding flavours to the gig. The performance of Black Crow was very different from that on the album, certainly more funked up! The percussion jam going into Travelling Without Moving was something else altogether, and the actual performance of that song was brilliant! The crowd afterwards were a bit annoyed that old classics such as Virtual Insanity were not featured, but watching their performance you can certainly see why many have likened them to The Rolling Stones Live.

Jay Kay dominated the stage, his presence and energy lifted the audience to a new level, and his Michael Jackson on steroids like dancing was something to behold. The crowd at the front had the time of their lives as Jay Kay ran along the speakers to get closer to then, went on a hand-slapping tour and even invited a few onto the stage…what other band would do that? The problem however was that those nearer the back, just weren’t involved in the gig, but the music more than made up for it. If there was a criticism it would be that there wasn’t enough tunes from the older albums, leaving some fans wanting older classics to return. Each song was brilliantly performed by the band and Jay Kay’s ad-libs during the show were humorous, however at times rather difficult to hear.

The final course of the evening, was the perfect dessert. Leaving the crowd deafeningly cheering for more the band came back onstage to perform Deeper Underground and Alright. The bass on Deeper Underground was breathtaking, so loud, so vibrant, so coooollll!! The crowd were jumping like mad-men as they were swamped in the distinctive Jamiroquai sound. Jay Kay then got a few members on stage to dance to the final song and gave the audience a real chance to feel part of the show and sing along, and then as quick as they arrived, the left. Leaving the audience gasping for breath having experience a truly funky evening’s entertainment.

The band are great fun to see live if you’re not a fan, if you like the band a lot your in for a real treat and are bound to be foot-tapping, jumping and cheering like mad-men yourself.

Go catch Jamiroquai if you can, this tour is an undoubted feast for the eyes and ears. 

Truly Funky, 4 out of 5

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