Les Claypool @ the Tivoli Theatre Dec 1st 2009

The night was movie time picturesque, the moon was full and the clouds rode on chilled breezes across the sky above Brisbane city. Meanwhile, pocketed away in the valley an anxious line formed outside the Tivoli theatre and waited in anticipation for none other than Les Claypool promoting his latest work " Of Fungi and Foe".

Before the crowd of 600 or so patrons Claypool, who is arguably the best bass player in the music game, gave the audience far more than they bargained for. With his distinctive layering of jazzy, funkadelic grooves and punky riffs topped off with his creepy hoe-down country vocals the entire act was bestial and unyielding from beginning to end. His oddball playful humour played through in tracks like "Red State Girl" where even Sarah Palin gets a tongue-in-cheek shout out and in "Rumble of the Diesel", Claypool was untouchable. The "Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread"  brought out his gritty styling and eerily surreal riffs that bled into the ground reached up and shook the crowd till they roared for more.

Backed by suited mystery men disguised with masks of dead presidents, the percussion, drums and the spectral whines of the cello set the air on fire. The entire evening felt like a demonic game of follow-the-leader. The devilish Claypool sporting a bowler hat cavorted around like a droog straight out of A Clockwork Orange. In "Booneville Stomp" the drums and percussion battled feverishly playing with a synchronicity that had audience members shaking their heads in disbelief. While in the beginning there were some very minor technical issues with the sound levels, nothing held back the undeniable presence of each of the men on stage. This left of center act, if you have the pleasure of seeing it, will blow your mind. Even those not usually interested in the genre will leave with nothing but the utmost respect for the devil and his posse.