TOM McGUIRE & THE BRASSHOLES – THE VOODOO ROOMS, EDINBURGH
“Avoid the funk, the funk’s gonna get you anyway” advised Defunkt on their 1982 album Thermonuclear Sweat. There is no possibility of avoiding the funk tonight even should you wish to; Tom McGuire & The Brassholes have brought the funk with them in great big huge buckets labeled EXTRA FUNKY FUNK. If you don’t want to get funked tonight then you are simply in the wrong place.
The band (Tom McGuire – Guitar vocals, Luca Pisanu- bass, Moss Taylor – keys, Micah Johnston – drums, Liam Shortall – trombone, Mateusz Sobieski & Michael butcher – saxophones) arrive on stage in baggy white trousers and white tee shirts. Tom tosses what appears to be a hastily-scribbled setlist on an equally-hastily torn-off bit of cardboard onto the stage; the first indication that this may not be a man overly concerned with the professional standards of your average touring musician.
Tom McGuire & The Brassholes recently released a new album, Stay Rad, which they are showcasing tonight. They kick off their set with the opening track D.R.E.A.D. One thing becomes immediately apparent: The Brassholes are not just tight. The Brassholes are tighter than an Aberdonian in a cost-of-living crisis. The Brassholes are tighter than Tom Jones’ trousers. The Brassholes are…well, you get the idea.
At first thought, Scotland may not seem the natural environment in which The Funk might thrive. Think again though; from Lulu through The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, The Average White Band, the claymore-wielding Jesse Rae, and the itchy, scratchy Orange Juice – cut them and a little bit of The Funk, or at least its close cousin, The Groove, bleeds out. The Brassholes take all of this heritage and quite simply wipe the floor with it.
“We’re from Glasgow” announces Tom. Unusually for an Edinburgh gig, no one boos; not even ironically. A straw poll later in the show reveals that about 80% of the audience have seen the band before so they know exactly what they are in for. Audience participation is actively encouraged, whether it’s an improvised scat singing/trombone call-and-response duet or Tom casually handing his guitar down from the front of the stage to be looked after while he does a quick changeover.
Songs fly by in a blur of sheer fun, making it hard to identify standouts but the pinpoint precision riffing of Standout recalls Frank Zappa putting The Mothers Of Invention through their paces. Towards the end of the gig, keyboard player, Moss Taylor, leaps from the stage into the crowd for a bout of frenzied dancing. The choice of encore is decided by the audience by proportionate volume of cheers, or at least it is until someone boos instead.
“Alright,” says Tom, “let’s do it by boos instead”. Do You Still Got Your Soul is met with utter silence and is therefore deemed the winner. The song is pretty much a distillation of The Brassholes’ philosophy and as saxes and trombone take centre stage, the evening ends like a funked-up, free-form New Orleans funeral.
Tom McGuire and The Brassholes may well be appearing at a venue or festival near you over the summer. Don’t miss them, they are a funking blast.
JOHN SCOTT
