PERFORMANCE : SOMA RASA W/ MOBY DATE : NOVEMBER 19, 1999 VENUE: THE ARENA (BRISBANE) WRITER: RED DOG LIVE REPORTING reddog@firehorse.com

It's always a good sign when the bouncers are turning people away at 9 o'clock, and Reddog silently thanked his foresight as he made his way past the disappointed faithful into the Arena. And the timing was perfect, with Melbournian beats-n-breaks specialists Pound System just kicking off as I walked in the door. This pair of ex-pat Brits sold me on their brilliant Livid performance a few weeks back, and tonight, the System was well and truly pounding!

Pound System occupy the darker end of the electronic spectrum, kicking off with some down-and-dirty breakbeat driven tunes and gradually dropping the tempo (but never the intensity) as their set wore on. It's a pity more punters weren't willing to abandon the bar and hit the floor until the last song, which was propelled by a mind-melting bassline and a 4/4 beat which commanded your attention. Next time, the floor should be packed for the duration.

SOMA RASA had no such troubles. Recently proclaimed in the local street press as the Brisbane crossover Kings, SOMA RASA are undoubtedly on their way to the top. Their opening track was a newie which drew far more heavily from hip-hop than any of their earlier work, and the tempo picked up with the unmistakable acid bassline of "Spinner" off their self-titled EP. But the Rasa have definitely moved on from their early sound, with elements of classic 70s funk, hip hop, and even progressive house starting to work their way into the mix. New single "Future Of Der Funk" is a case in point, fusing their traditionally dirty vibes with these new elements without sounding like anybody but Soma Rasa. And the rapidly filling Arena responded accordingly, with the whole floor packed by the end of the set. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - we'll all be hearing more of the name Soma Rasa soon.

No matter which way you look at it, Moby is a legend. Unfortunately, legendary status often brings unrealistic expectations along with it, and unrealistic expectations often lead to disappointment. Not that I'm the world's biggest Moby fan, but his latest album Play and the subsequent tour have been receiving such glowing reviews that I was almost expecting the second coming of Christ.

Moby took the stage with an acoustic guitar and his band (drums, percussion, bass and keys) in tow, belting out some tasty Ben Harper-ish slide work on "Find My Baby" off the new album. The addition of live instrumentation really breathed new life into these tracks - the power unleashed everytime the live drums kicked in with the sampled beats was phenomenal, even though some of the more complex sequenced elements were lost in the mix. Not content to hide behind his guitar, Moby paced the stage like a madman, occassionally pounding out some wicked beats on the congas, coaxing lilting piano lines out of his synth, or chanting maniacally into the microphone.

"This song's from a movie" announced the man before launching into the first treat of the evening, a riff-heavy take on the James Bond theme which, quite simply, rocked! The lukewarm response for "Go!", regarded as one of THE seminal techno songs with it's sample from the Twin Peaks theme, confirmed the suspicions of my old-school raver companions - that most of the crowd hadn't even heard of Moby until Play came along. They were certainly in for an education tonight, with another classic moment "Next is the E" coming soon after, before they moved back into the newer breakbeat and triphop flavoured tracks. Therein lay the problem - the sheer diversity of Moby's work made a free-flowing performance near impossible. Other diversions, such as his solo take on a Springsteen acoustic number and the breakdancing display from the drummer, didn't help much either. And despite the fact he was joined by a band, this was clearly the Moby show, with little interaction between the man himself and his hired hands.
But it was hard to argue with the quality of the tunes, and they just kept coming - "Honey", "Run On", the classic happy-hardcore of "Feeling So Real" off Everything is Wrong and "Bodyrock", which apparently began it's life as a cover of Led Zep's "Whole Lotta Love". "Thousand" provided a fitting climax - Moby stood on a pedestal centre stage, shirt off, bathed in blue light and flashing strobe, enacting variations on a Jesus Christ Pose as the tempo slowly built to a peak, dropped out, and built once more to a climax of beats and blips which left this reviewer nauseous. Second coming of Christ indeed.....

The rest of my crew were in raptures (one, who scored a ticket off a scalper for $50, said it was worth every cent, while the smile on another's face after "Feeling So Real" was worth much more than 1000 words.) But though there were moments of rare beauty and power, I couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed.
~Kris Swales~