Closing out the Bath Fringe Festival in The Spiegeltent on a wet Sunday evening, Hazmat Modine played a very rare live two hour set in the UK concluding their three week tour Europe. If they were tired it did not show although they must have wondered what they had let themselves in for as the opening number was played to an aaudience seated all around the outside of the tent with no one apart from a couple of small children who danced around the circular dance floor in front of the band.That all changed at the end of the opening number when I led the charge to occupy the area immediatly in front of the band laying out on the floor just like me used to do in the late 60s early 70s.
What then followed was a great gig, more and more of the audience joined us down the front and by half way through everybody was up dancing.
This was joyous music, played with gusto, by a eight piece band led by a real showman in Wade Schuman, but make no mistake all the other seven members were not afraid to come forward and solo. A special mention must be given to Joseph Daly on Sousaphone, a mighty marching band instrument which effectively was the bass guitar. How the guy has the puff for two hours is beyond me.
The set ended with a slightly fast rendition of Bahamut and with a ferry to catch to get them back to Germany and their flight back to New York, they played an encore. Brilliant.
10/10
