Cargo – London
26th September 2005
It’s been a while since Steve Mason stepped into London for a show but without The rest of the Beta Band behind him, the question is “would he be able to pull it off”? King Biscuit Time was his side project whilst in the Beta Band and with only one EP under his belt selling out East London’s Cargo venue was no mean feat. The venue was packed to hilt with expectation and anxious bods awaiting a set full of brand new KBT tunes and they were not disappointed. In fact, Mason’s aura won them over even before he opened his mouth.
With producer C-Swing at the helm keeping the beats tidy on the a-dat machine and the keys flowing beautiful patterns the show was anchored and never sank. Mason’s second anchor man Pete (or “yes man” as he called him on stage) provided bass, guitars and various percussion instruments whilst his cheeky smile lit up the audience. The set kicked off with new songs from the up and coming LP bringing beautiful, mellow pop tunes to the party such as the wonderful Left Eye and Way You Walk. The one thing that was apparent is that Steve’ds voice is absolutely spot on. As he sang through I Love You that was lifted off the No Style EP,he really meant every word and you could feel the entire audience taking it in. With some custom Beta Band renditions thrown in, both Doctor Baker and Simple got mammouth applause before the new single C I AM 15 kicked in. Mason took to the miniture drumkit set up at the front of the stage and also dabbed at the african drums in time with his henchmen but i felt it lacked Top cat’s toasting live and sounded like it really missed him.
With time running out and a hungry crowd, his encore included a dub reggae version of Anarchy in the UK which was simply splendid followed by another blast of the single to leave people singing on the way home. After watching this fine set, the album is set to be a wonderful record and Mason can hold his head high after setting himself up a solo career that looks as though will take the biscuit in the end….
Zac