‘Are ya with us?” barks G Hastings. From lesser artists this would be just well-worn stage banter. From Young Fathers, it’s an expression of an us-against-them mindset they’ve trusted for over 15 years, a call for solidarity from a group whose conviction that their wild, idiosyncratic noise is in fact “pop” isn’t often shared by mainstream radio programmers.
The core trio – Hastings, the dapper Alloysious Massaquoi and ever-restless Kayus Bankole – are joined tonight by a drummer, a multi-instrumentalist, and singers Amber Joy and Kim Mandindo who are too essential to what’s happening here to be simply backing vocalists. The group jitter on to the unadorned stage like unstable elements, casting vast shadows of their endlessly dancing bodies on a grimy canvas backdrop. It evokes Talking Heads’ concert movie Stop Making Sense, and Young Fathers are similarly all energy and ecstasy.
