Sons of Zuku & The Colour Set Review - By Benjamin Green
During the evening of October the 17th I ventured my way into the Producers Bar behind The Old Exchange for an evening of musical entertainment.
I arrived half way into the Sons of Zoku set, though I'm happy I did; I forgot my ear plugs. The sons of Zoku are a four piece psychedelic rock band, guitar/lead vocals, bass guitar, drums, and synthesizer/percussion. The most interesting aspect of the makeup of their band was a woman behind some Macbooks. Using various jewelry and various percussion, delayed vocals, and synthesizers added a real colour to the overall sound. All of the members were adorned in similar attire and same zany personas which really added to their image and brand. Their sound consisted of heavy, delayed wailing and riffs the like that of Rage Against The Machine, notably the bass riffs. This being their first performance I was quite entertained, even though it wasn't essentially my favourite style of music. My only regret and forewarning I have is that it is a good idea to bring ear plugs because they are a loud energetic band.
The Colour Set was the second act to perform. As they were starting their sound check I began to worry about the performance of their overall set. Each of the band members seemed to have a sense of elitist musicianship. All of them being mid twenties or older, expensive instruments, and the riffs they were playing while setting up. The unsettling thing for me was the combination of that and their attire. All of them were wearing outfits that just didn't make much sense at all, the bass player was wearing board shorts and a guitarist a suit. Once they started playing, as tight as the music was sounding, the delivery and stagecraft seemed disjointed. They were all spread far apart across the stage and didn't seem to bounce off of each other's energy. I'm not sure how long this band have been together and performing for, but their overall song compositions and stagecraft to me was lack luster. Their sound consisted of a 90's rock genre; a genre that I grew up on. However, they ended up falling short of that caliber.
The venue was very relaxed, had a good atmosphere, a bar near the stage. The stage itself was spacious which is a bit of a double edged sword depending on how the band uses the space as previously mentioned.
All in all still a fun evening, but an educational one for my future endeavors of my brand and presenting myself and that brand in a vision that is appealing to the targeted demographic.