The Moon Club, Cardiff
Tue 26 Feb
words: JUSTIN EVANS
★★★★☆
Immediately after seeing this extraordinary Swiss Cajun-garage-folk trio do their thing live, your list of cultural stereotypes will be updated thus: army knives, cuckoo clocks, Mama Rosin.
Their hour-or-so set, their first headline performance in Cardiff, was incredible – had I not witnessed it, I wouldn’t have believed it. I know you’re reading that and thinking “bullshit,” but really! Heck, I’m listening to the cd I bought whilst typing this. It’s all true, though: the love (very much reciprocated) shown to three touring gents with limited English was as much a thing to behold as their performance.
Let’s go back to the beginning though. Tonight’s openers Threatmantics kicked things off with the confidence of headliners, storming through most of latest album Kid McCoy and finishing with old favourite Don’t Care – so it was good to hear them talking of new material just an hour so beforehand. A well-drilled set, even if it may not have seemed so with lead singer Heddwyn Davies’ viola taking the brunt of the band’s aggression. Good work, guys.
I’d only heard two or three Mama Rosin tracks prior to the gig, and while they sounded good, performance is nine-tenths of the law, or something. In the flesh, the geographically-mixed-up Cajun joi de vivre and all-round enthusiasm the three-piece (two hairies up front in tight vintage t-shirts, plus a balding drummer in a suit who occasionally strapped on a washboard) was so infectious, they did about four encores. Mama Rosin have played Cardiff once before, supporting Bellowhead in the Coal Exchange late last year; they made many friends on that occasion, and in a far smaller venue (the smallest on their current tour, too), all were back to show some love. This was the first in a series of Spillers Records live promotions and if they can promise more of the same, then count me in!