In their 90s heyday, the Brand New Heavies were synonymous with the sound of London’s dancefloors. The quartet’s blend of funk grooves, soulful vocals and thunderous basslines were on regular rotation from Hoxton’s Blue Note to Camden’s Dingwalls courtesy of DJs such as Gilles Peterson and Eddie Piller. Today, their hits Dream on Dreamer and Midnight at the Oasis are more likely to be regular picks for Magic FM’s drive-time slot, while their 11 albums have been released to lessening levels of fanfare, mostly leaving the group to be defined as pioneers of a bygone genre: acid jazz.
So they seem to have a point to prove as they arrive at a sold out Royal Albert Hall, rounding out a tour that’s marked 30 years since the release of their most commercially successful album, 1994’s Brother Sister. Backed by the colossal London Concert Orchestra, original members guitarist Simon Bartholomew (adorned in a feather boa) and bassist Andrew Levy (sporting tight sequined trousers) and new vocalist Angela Ricci launch into a lively two-hour set.
