DESCRIPTION:
Hot Climate splashed down again at one of the summer's fruitiest and fun nights out. The peaceful and picturesque beer-garden ofthe Fountain Inn was transformed into a Bedouin tent palace, complete with sparkling lanterns and palm trees. As the founder & prime mover throughout the band's longish lifespan, the charismatic and mysterious Saxaphone Sensation of Sin City (-well..Leominster.. which can get pretty wild at the full of the moon), the passionate heart, white-hot Sax-machine and indefatigable founder of, probably, the best Showband in the World from for a night of sultry, exotic music and dancing - and enough thirst-quenching refreshment on tap satisy a caravan of desert-dry Camel-herders and the Sultan they ride for. Sean Habberley rocks & soars, his trusty Stratocaster smoking as it morphs from infectious, vibrant funk to classic, face-melting, stadium solos - he doesn't even break into a sweat - unlike the crowd who are whooping it up. Swinging along when the band are laying back for a nice easy number, the audience of all ages seem welded 2 the kick drum of Master Drummerino, Richy Lund, the 'power behind the throne' picks up the crowd time and again like a Pacific swell, Cheeky glances from keyboard wizard, John Farqwell signalling the next groove. He doesn't tickle the ivories so much as seduce, marry and divorce them, all at the one gig. Farqwell doesn't get the limelight of some Climateers but his place in the mix is central. Like every member of this fine band, it seems, the pianist enjoys a breadth of styles and seasoned technical ability beyond his tender years, and, while this reporter may have been dewey eyed from the steamy, electric atmosphere, it is no mere platitude (think 'arse licking') to describe HOT CLIMATE as a truly youthful act. Though their set at Fountain Fest included several vintage (almost prehistoric) classics last heard crackling out of a Wurlitzer Jukeboxand, the effect was fresh and invigorating. In at least one case, Charlie's 'Angels' fooled the ears of this learned scholar, as well as the body of the audience into enjoying the novelty and adventure of a brand new song, replete with catchy riffs, compelling, floor-filling hooks and the satisfaction of a good-old, crowd-pleaser of a chorus, hands in the air, couples & friends dancing, canoodling or just enjoying a beer monsoon to the Bassline, the beat and the heat. In a less than tropical island such as Britain, HOT CLIMATE bought the warmth & exuberance of a Jamaican SoundSystem with them, generating their own sunshine onstage for the audience, and me, to bask in as if at a beach party. HOT CLIMATE, in name and in nature, will warm u from your toes to the tips of ur newly-sprung dreadlocks, even if u went to the gig old, bald and knackered. I ended up enjoying a modest selection of the excellent and varied beers and ciders cascading from the Fountain's barrel mountain, and may well have sampled a few more had the band not done such a good job of keeping us all entertained and glued to the dancefloor. A sea of smiles and foot-stomping right to the end of the night which came, as it will with a show of this calibre, too soon, but not before the audience were knackered in a nice way. Cobwebs thoroughly blown away by the warm, summer breeze of the HOT CLIMATE happy hour(s). Well done to the whole team at the Fountain Inn, Tenbury, all the volunteers, the bands and the sound selections throughout the night from DJ TERRY PALTYPUS that kept the joint jumping. He even managed to squeeze in a few very-up-to-date tunes 2 tempt the dancers while the bass-lines kept many a young gentleman's or lady's trouser-leg flapping with appropriate gusto and the polish of the world's hottest recording artists. Rock-On to all. Happy Holidays, Merry Greetings and a whole calendar's worth of celebrating without bursting the baby's eardrums or or their parents' wage packet. Bring on Fountain Fest 2016 - I'm already packing the suncream. blowing the cobwebs away for a few, sparkling hours colourful his pleasant surprize, so that a vintage into hearing a totally new jam or classic-in-the-making from Arena gigs, his heartbeat provides the rock solid foundation, as well as many flashes of virtuoso colour with recent signing Mathius Pellegrini on bass. This relatively new rhythm section sound and feel like old buddies, so tight and timely do they mesh. Grant Harris giving another belting performance & leads the crowd to rapture with his vocal power & charisma mighty wave of irrepressible good-time vibes and raw, rock power. This time the lucky, and lively people of Tenbury Wells got to lap up our heros' musical delights - an invigorating blend of red-hot lava cooled down with judicious swirls of dairy-fresh, musical cream, smooth enough for even the coolest of cats. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!