BIKE
****
The Full Moon, Cardiff, Thu 27 Sep
A pleasant, warm late-summer/early-autumn night in Cardiff was the superb setting for BIKE, hailing all the way from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Something about Brazilian music seems to give it an innate sunniness – even the darkest tales of MPB legends like Chico Buarque and Ze Ramalho still somehow sound sunny. Might have something to do with, well, the fact that it’s a fairly sunny country.
The same goes for BIKE – this is sun-drenched psychedelic rock, played with grace and eloquence. First up though was support from two Cardiff bands- an acoustic set from CVC and Beano Naboo & The Real Keepers. Both were perfectly fine, though I have to admit nothing special for me. With that said, CVC had some excellent harmonies in them, which has become something of a lost art in modern music scenes – I’d love to see a local band go full-on Crosby, Stills & Nash. Beano Naboo had some decent songwriting chops too and very good bassist, though I have to admit that at this point I was already quite inebriated from a free bar earlier in the day at another event, and needed to sober up a little bit, so I can’t really remember what their music sounded like. Make of that what you will.
BIKE though, were superb. This is high-grade psychedelic rock, up there with the best of the modern strain of psychedelia. With six of them cramped up on the Moon’s tiny stage, they let rip with a set that showcased their superb songwriting; the songs are generally elongated head-trips but with more than enough variance and dynamic interplay to make each journey feel different. They had a few indulgent moments, which they earned courtesy of their excellent musicianship: drummer Daniel Fumega keeping a lid on proceedings with superb playing, giving the songs a propellant when needed or slowing them down when called for. The mixing in this instance was superb too. The Moon can be a tricky venue sound-wise, with it’s slightly bizarre shape, but every instrument came through loud and clear, even amidst all the most hectic moments of effects-pedal overload. Superb stuff. Brazil’s often had its troubles, with the country currently on the verge of electing fascist, Bolsonaro, ten times worse than Trump, but its creative side has never been in doubt, as seen with bands like BIKE. Fora Bolsonaro!
words Fedor Tot
