11:21am Monday 28th February 2011
By Joanne Mace
BASINGSTOKE, if you missed this, you missed out.
Let me preface this review by saying that I am not remotely ‘with it’ neither do I know anything about beatboxing – yet I still had the most vital and amazing evening watching Shlomo at The Haymarket.
I have no doubt that anyone who was there would have said the same as never have I felt a more tangible sense of the (very diverse) audience’s awe and appreciation.
Bramley resident Simon Shlomo Kahn is a world champion and his skill would have been obvious to anyone. What I hadn’t been fully aware of was how much of a musical genius he must be to be able to do this, and I’m glad I gave him the opportunity to usher my preconceptions out the door.
Watching him build a piece of music using only repeated snippets of sound he produced with his mouth was just astonishing, as was hearing him harmonise to a line of song he’d made up just seconds previously, adding layer after layer until symphonies of sound rose out, leaving us all gobsmacked.
The slight and erudite figure, in addition to wowing us with his ability and explaining how he does what he does, also engaged in accessible banter and autobiography throughout. The tales of his grandparents revealed his heritage, and neatly segued into a poignant recreation of the sound of his grandfather’s worry beads and drum.
I was on the edge of my seat for most of the duration of this phenomenal demonstration, stunned by the depth of what was produced and the renditions of famous tunes, including Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams and Bill Withers’ Lovely Day. During one section when he was demonstrating the power of the bass pedal, I could almost swear I felt the roof rattle, such was the force of his voice.
It is a long, long time since I have seen anything so vital and so exciting, or felt so completely motivated as I left the theatre. If Shlomo makes good on his promise to return to Basingstoke with
his vocal orchestra, don’t miss the opportunity to watch and wonder at his phenomenal talent.
*Shlomo is on tour with Mouthtronica until April 1. Dates and full details are available online at shlo.co.uk or via his Twitter and Facebook sites.
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