Review: Hackney Colliery Band, The Fleece

If you’re looking for a “traditional” colliery band, the Hackney Colliery Band are not that. Not even close. In the best way possible.

Their performance at The Fleece on Thursday night was underpinned by their brass roots, but its whole was tinged by the contemporary; FX boards blasting warbled voice distortions and messages of hope from infamous Ethio-Jazz musician Mulatu Astatke, fresh percussive breakdowns and, on occasion, the faint, airy tones of the flute.

The seven-piece collective planted themselves firmly on centre stage at the close of one of the venue’s resident DJs spin of Spanish remixes of ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ and Mark Ronson’s dirty version of ‘Toxic’. Two trumpets, two trombones, one saxophone, two drummers and one, gigantic looming horn created the effect of a 50-piece orchestra as they opened with a series of numbers from their new album Collaborations: Volume One.

As the name suggests, Collaborations: Volume One features a number of acclaimed musicians from around the world; Angelique Kidjo and Bugge Wesseltoft to name but a few. The most engaging and thought-provoking experience came from their epic rendition of one of Mulatu Astatke’s famous songs, with a bold drum breakdown which saw all brass players swap their instruments for a pair of sticks. The collective’s engaging frontman Steve Pretty pulled the small but dedicated crowd in with clapping and layered stomping, building and falling, until drummer Luke Christie regained control.

There were moments where their set sounded totally improvised; complete with little hiccups here and there as each instrumentalist battled for their moment in the spotlight. But instead of that being offputting in any way, it just made you hang on even harder. At one point, I was sure the purple face of trombonist Ed Rieband (who joined the outfit on stage for the full set) was going to pop like a large, overripe grape after a winding run of about 3 and a half minutes. He took a swig of his Stella and carried on, like a true British hero.

“These guys are our hot tip for 2019, they’re a little band called Nirvana” Pretty joked, as they launched into a slick, lounge-style revamp of ‘Heart Shaped Box’. I took far too much pleasure in watching two twenty-somethings spend the first minute of the trumpet/horn melody trying to figure out what song was playing, but rejoined proceedings just as the slightly more mature crowd filled in the vocal gaps in the set.

Vocals aren’t a regular occurrence in the Hackney Colliery Band’s sets, for obvious reasons, but it was refreshing to hear drummer Luke Christie take the reigns on ‘Without You’; a song he wrote for vocalist YVA on the new record. The vocals here hazy, a light accompaniment to the thick, tonal brass base. Not dissimilar to a thin slice of lemon with a beefy gin and tonic.

All in all, the Hackney Colliery Band proved, yet again, that they aren’t just excellent individual instrumentalists, but a fun-loving and cohesive jazz/brass collective with the ability to throw in surprises and still remain perfectly in sync. This is a band that excels live, preferably in on a festival or outdoor stage, with a chunky sound system, a keen audience and ample space to lose all inhibitions.

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