Gig Review

Is Tropical
Manchester, Deaf Institute
25th September 2011
 
                            
Is Tropical     
                   
The southern band signed to the cultish French dance label Kitsune step out in Manchester to a crowd that was so sparse you could have filled the small room with lead (a dense metal). After faffing with a projector which ends up being abandoned the three young and scruffy gents step out about twenty minutes late and proceed to play through their brilliant debut album Native To.

After walking around the bar it seems somewhat bizarre that they come on stage wearing bandannas covering their mouths, but then we all love a bit of fake mystery I suppose, maybe it’s integral to their sound in some vital way that every spectator in the room’s missing. It doesn’t affect their performance though as they shout and banter their way through a relentless set.

The crowd which barely half fills the room, and the majority of them are sat down, is subdued to say the least as the band crank out ‘What???’, ‘Zombie’ and ‘Lies’ amongst others, but their between song pleas of, “Come and dance” work a treat as the crowd flees to the bar and the dance-floor. The banter is one of Is Tropical’s strongest aspects as they invite people for sleepovers and other things that are quite clearly never going to happen, but feel so genuine. They play their instruments hard twiddling the synthesiser knobs and clicking their laptop buttons like their arms might fall off if they stop. ‘Seasick Mutiny’ shows off their skill as they rock back and forth between guitars, machines, and some power drumming for the classy, enigmatic, primarily instrumental number.

Hits ‘The Greek’ and ‘Land of the Nod’ go down best with the fans finally understanding this is superb music to dance to and then dancing. One fan though had no trouble understand what this band do best as he got his funk on to every single track without fail. The young gent adorned in his Cosmo Jarvis shirt was alone and unafraid as everyone else laughed, clearly in jealousy, at the brave and frankly fierce guy. Is Tropical should hire this man a crowd enhancer because every eye in that place was on him for longer than it was on the people on the stage and that’s just a fact.

Somewhere between a DJ set and gig Is Tropical aren’t yet the performers they need to be to excite, luckily they have the tunes to carry them through their learning curve.

Is Tropical 3/5

Review By Lauren Mullineaux

 Is Tropical


Coming Soon

 Band Related Links
Is Tropical Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?