Knower at The Fleece Live Review

Posted on: 2018-03-20

Our rating:

Intense synth pop, funk and jazz fusion from this tight and talented LA band had some serious high points, with plenty of frenetic grooves and blistering solos. But overall the band did not do themselves justice.


Knower have been gaining a massive global following of late, posting brilliantly funky and amusing music videos on their YouTube channel. Having supported Red Hot Chilli Peppers on a collection of dates in 2017, and featuring on Thundercat’s latest album Drunk, I was delighted to hear the LA duo would be making an appearance at the Fleece with a full band line-up, as part of their sprawling tour in support of their fourth album Life.

Knower in Bristol review

Manchester duo Skeltr (Knower’s support for the UK leg of the tour) kicked off the evening with a brilliant combination of blistering chops and lyricism. Alto player and leader Sam Healey was a joy to watch. His opening shred of furious licks and screaming high notes was as outrageous as it was joyful. Their tight set moved through various funk-inspired grooves and more ballad-like moments, with furious and regular injections of burning sax solos.

 

The set ended with a dramatic drum solo that simultaneously triggered a sampled choral hymn. It was amusing, bewildering and surprisingly epic, which is actually a neat summary of their set. Skeltr were talented, entertaining, and clearly didn’t take themselves too seriously. An endearing and entertaining combination, and a brilliant start to the night.

Skeltr in Bristol review

Similar things can be said for Knower. Louis Cole’s penchant for shades, enormous gold chains and unusual trousers, in combination with the intense syncopated funk grooves and direct lyrics of the songs he and Genevieve Artadi (singer) have written, are clearly not to be taken too seriously. And one of the duo’s best known songs, The Government Knows, is straight up hilarious. Seriously, watch the video. However, perhaps this attitude can go too far in a live setting.

 

There was tangible anticipation in the Fleece as the crowd, mostly made up by local musicians, waited eagerly for Knower to start the set. Once the band had taken their positions, the first two songs were a bit of a non-starter, mostly because of mixing issues and some technical difficulties with Louis’ laptop, which is unavoidable. They got round the problem professionally with bass player Sam Wilkes holding down the beastly bass line for track Butts Tits Money until the rest of the band could drop in.

Knower in Bristol review

However, even after they surmounted these technical obstacles, it never felt like the gig ever really got going. After every track there was an awkward pause as the band discussed what to play, with audience members heckling track names, which is funny for a bit but gets boring quickly. Louis Cole nonchalantly admitted they didn’t have a set list for the night. At first I thought this was amusing, but the incessant waiting around for songs to start got tiresome. It reminded me of an attitude a swing band might have for their background dinner music set at a wedding, but didn’t suit a world-class touring band who expect their fans to pay for tickets and organise their lives around the chance to see them perform.

 

There were plenty of brilliant moments in the set. Particularly burning solos came from keyboardist Dennis Hamm, and bassist Sam Wilkes was awesome throughout. And the light-hearted pop mixed with incredibly tight and dense jazz-funk that they are known for was seriously entertaining. A highlight was definitely Chinese Funk, a catchy and groovy little jam broken up with ludicrous drum solos, which was “probably not actually Chinese funk, its just a name”, as Louis assured the crowd.

 

As he was starting another blistering fill, Louis suddenly stopped: “actually, instead of doing the third drum solo I’m gonna do this” and started singing happy birthday for the keyboard player.

 

Brilliant moments like this would then of course be followed by another awkward pause, undoing the momentum that had just been gained. This ultimately resulted in boredom by the end of the set when Knower finally played a mash-up of their best-known bangers The Government Knows and Overtime.

 

Knower’s music is definitely unlike anything else being created at the moment, and at its best is seriously entertaining and good fun. And the individual band members are totally high-grade players, producing plenty of drool-worthy playing. But this should never be relied upon for a good gig. More effort into crafting a set that took the audience on some kind of vaguely coherent journey, whilst still allowing for funny or unexpected moments along the way, would have kept the energy up for the duration of their set, and meant their finale would have truly exploded.  



Article by:

Ollie Horne

Ollie graduated from Bristol University in 2015, and apart from completing one winter ski season in Austria in 2016, he has stayed in the city ever since. He is a writer and a busy musician, playing regularly with Bristol bands Cousin Kula, Feelgood Experiment and Tungz. His other interests include travel (most recently to Rajasthan in India) and reading, especially stories from far-flung places.