This evening, onlookers were treated to an out-an-out glam-fest complete with free champers, heart-shaped cherry lollipops, and best of all, thousands of red balloons with silver strands hanging from the ceiling. This cabaret atmosphere had the usual crowd of tutu-wearing eccentrics and fashionistas, all the fun of the fair and all that. Well, if fine feathers make fine birds, then the same applies to TEMPOSHARK, pioneers of the East London electronica movement, and fast-rising stars in the making.
Rob Diament (vocals) pouted and strutted his way through their fabulous, poppy, exciting, sexy numbers. "Nothing is more serious than pleasure." he sang at the audience. Ok, it might read like something from The Rocky Horror Show, but when the sentiment is sang right at you through a load of pink and red balloons, it's hard to disagree.
Temposhark then embarked on one sinfonietta after another, at one point inviting PRINCESS JULIA, fashion guru and DJ, on the stage for a whole load of Cockney twanged "Ooh La Las."
One of the high points, and there were many of them, was their performance of their epic single "It's Better To Have Loved" - a certain hit waiting to happen, a glorious tune in the similar vein as Bjork's "I Play Dead". In contrast, "Hard, Medium, Soft" has a distinctly more edgy feel to it. Diament's vocals were robotic and metallic, cutting through the hard industrial gritty beats, and bubbly, popping keyboards - a sound that reflected the venue, area, time and place.
"You're not big in my life" is a proper power ballad, an indignant yell against the other half in a relationship gone wrong. If you've been dumped recently, then listen to this track because it will do you the world of good. Their next single "Blame", which will be released in February 2006, is also bloody good tune, one I'll certainly be splashing out on when it's released.
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They repeatedly flipped from glam-rock, electro-pop, to bouncy disco. There's a bit of everything for everybody here. Their songs are stylishly poppy and dark at the same time, and the lyrics are cutting, amusing, and deeply indignant. For example, "Mediocrity Sells" is a definite jibe at the current bland and cold state of the media industry, "The possibility beautiful is oversold to the dumb. The intelligent never sign the dotted line to stay young." Amen.
What was nice about this performance was how Diament appeared to know literally everyone in the audience, showering accolades and acknowledgements on all and sundry at any given opportunity. The remarkable thing was, this gig wasn't a 'Friends and Family' event; Temposhark are very much in touch with their fan base (in fact, one of their fans had travelled all the way down from York specially for their gig). It felt more like a colourful, friendly party than a normal gig, and that was indeed a nice touch.
Temposhark are certainly a band to watch out for in 2006. Go on, get your Glad Rags and lipgloss together and head on down to one of their gigs, you won't be disappointed.
(Information on future events and releases can be found at www.temposhark.com)
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