Review of Bunty Looping at the Brighton Spiegeltent, Brighton , .
Under the spreading petals of an illuminated purple flower, the Brighton Spiegeltent pulses into life.
Four members of Barnacles approach the fifth (the drummer) from the mirror-ball floor, horns initially playing a mournful/joyous ragged New Orleans funeral march as they weave their way through the gaudy-hued Festival revellers. Closer to the stage they turn up the intensity, the repertoire becomes livelier ~ breaking into dizzying time signatures and gravity-defying stop/start punctuation marks, traces of vintage James Brown/Famous Flames riffs, squeals of free jazz ~ leaving us primed, and hungry for more, by the interval…
A few more drinks from the Spiegeltent bar, and then, visuals flickering into life on the screen behind her, the crowd go wild, and we stand and behold the sonic enchantment which is Bunty Looping ~ spinning words beyond language, inventing new languages, opening new doors, to strange and unfamiliar landscapes, experimental soundscapes ~ coaxing fresh-as-fuck sounds to enthral, to excite, to explore…
Bunty Looping
Jomotopia’s retina-pleasing single-frame and swirling images meld with Bunty’s astounding vocal gymnastics, surprises and twists at every turn, a shapeshifting Kali-esque destruction of genders and national borders ~ she rises up and crushes the staid corporate world between her amorous thighs ~ there is a communal sense of awe and wonderment ~ and much dancing ~ there is an inspired call and response from opposite ends of the tent with jungle girlchild Bellatrix ~ circling each other like exotic species of birds in some Henri Rousseau canvas ~ microphones at dawn ~ seamlessly fusing the spiritual with the corporeal ~ whipping up the-mother-of-all-storms and generally raising the roof, or tearing the roof right off, the Brighton Spiegeltent. Bunty Looping gives 200% ~ no half measures…
Huzzah! (and a brandy cocktail on the way home at “Be At One” bar).