ESG’s first Australian tour was always going to be highly anticipated by those in the know, even on a night boasting the double whammy of the hottest temperatures on record and Big Day Out in full-swing across town.
The most famous band that people have never heard of, despite being amongst the most sampled in history, drew a mixed crowd of hispters, disco punks,and a smattering of those old enough to have been fans of the band’s late 70s high water mark.
Entering the bowels of the Arts Factory on this sweltering night and it was obvious the choice of venue was spot on.
Steep steps leading into a semi-industrial space complete with trademark Hacienda style exposed girders created a perfect embodiment of an early 80s NY Danceteria vibe.
Already on stage, support band NO ZU were already blazing energetically to a half full room.
Timbale tapping bastard sons of A Certain Ratio, they delivered a hi-octane set of glamorous mayhem, bringing together a wall of percussion with an insistent rhythm section to take the room by storm.
No mere revivalists however, NO ZU had the crowd on-side and by the time their spirited percussionist and singer whipped them into a bongo-driven frenzy, it’s time to take stock and some well deserved refreshments.
The main event tonight is of course ESG. An all female family affair, the original Scroggins sisters are joined tonight by their daughters and an unidentified (but possibly related) bassist to crank the intensity even higher.
Survivors of the original late seventies/early eighties New York disco punk scene, ESG have always been devoutly underground. But their relative obscurity belies their prolific legacy as possibly the most sampled act in history (give or take a James Brown grunt).
With everyone from Public Enemy to Puff Daddy laying down their grooves, ESG are a vitally important part of today’s musical landscape. But their legacy betrays the true sense of fun behind the myth, as it’s all smiles and open armed displays of affection for the crowd tonight.
There is definitely something to be said for a band that has lived and played together all their lives as professionals, creating a tight knit funk machine that never drops a beat.
They create a fluid but spiky funk sound that incorporates glamour, cheapness, suburbia, and all sensuality wrapped in layers of percussive-dance-funk jams.
But despite the razor sharp polyphonics of the drummer, the spirit here is one of ragged imperfection. Whipping their way through the best of their twenty-year career, the sisters employ the best of old school call and response alongside extended syncopated conga jams, and the lowest of sub bass.
Their sound may be stripped back, but ESG are here to party. The pure energy and unashamed fun radiating from the stage is infectious and the crowd respond in kind.
By the time the band break into an extended ten-minute conga led version of “You’re no good”, it’s all arms in the air and grins as the band and crowd come together as one.
Cue a short sweat-drenched break and they are back, slamming straight in to perhaps their most easily recognised hit, ‘Moody’. The crowd are with them all the way, bellowing back the chorus and cutting some serious shapes to increase the intensity beyond it’s already well heightened state.
It’s not often you head out on the hottest night of the year and unwittingly experience one of its finest parties, but this was certainly up there.
Sometimes it’s easy to knock nostalgia, but with the current state of more discerning dance floors embracing the best of the post punk/funk experience, ESG’s revival is nothing if not timely.
