Muito Kaballa: Cobalt Studios provides a different type of triumphant gig
It’s not every day you’re asked, “Would you like the £5 main meal with that gig ticket?” But it is every Thursday you get asked that at Cobalt Studios in Newcastle. In an era when gig venues are closing seemingly every second, these mad bastards are booking jazz ensembles from Germany, support acts from Leeds, and charging people around a tenner to see them with a side of homecooked Daal.
Nevertheless, it is shows like Muito Kaballa’s that exemplify the vital importance of these sacred spaces. Following on from the rousing enthusiasm of funk outfit Flat Moon, the ensemble from Cologne even managed to fit in an oratory about the current conflicts in Gaza as they steadily coaxed people from their seats into a dancing melee. Thus, even the venue’s own struggles imbued the evening with a grander sense of a celebration of culture, kicking against the pricks in a manner that would even make Andrew Marr crack his terrifying smile.
The venue’s ‘Thurs Fresh’ sessions provide “new live music” and “tickets include home-cooked dinner”. The vegetarian offerings add to the homely community feel that Cobalt Studios is going for. The fact you can barely see what delicious serving you’re eating amid the ambient lighting and billowing smoke amplifies the slightly surreal aura of the place, too. For instance, it is not often you’re an inch from a stranger and thinking, ‘Was that an olive I’ve just popped in my mouth’ while an exuberant funk support band cover ‘Slim Shady’.
This was an aura that Muito Kaballa thrived in. The accomplished collective incorporates afrobeat, bebop, lounge, house, and an array of other textures into their sound, yet somehow manages to make that mix distinctively German. It’s afrobeat where the trains run on time. This unusual swirl of sound, expertly produced by a vibrant band bedecked in Aladdin adjacent attire, captivated the crowd.
With the help of Flat Moon, whose evidently carefree members were first to take to the dancefloor, Muito Kaballa steadily conjured the patrons to their feet. To the mercurial rhythm of horn parps, a disco feel took over as the recently fed crowd gave into the intoxication of free-flowing jazz and a fair few vinos.
Towards the end, an uncanny euphoria was palpable. There were roars of “one more tune” and even “two more tunes” from a hopeful fellow. These chants seemed incongruous with the style of music Muito Kaballa specialise in. Nevertheless, they heeded the baying hipster’s cries and jumped right back on their oboes, morphing their sound into its most danceable incarnation, a sense of defying the woes of the wider world, imbuing every groovy note with an added sweetness.
Alas, even if these notes weren’t to your taste, there was a wholesome wellspring about proceedings that really rammed home the point of culture in the most primary societal sense: with only £12 parted and a full belly gained, how could you ever regret choosing to spend a dreary Thursday night like this?
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.