Czechmusic.net
... czech and slovak music guide ...

News


Mama Bubo (Prague, U vystrelenyho oka Pub, Nov28, 2013) (concert review) 2013-11-30

It would be waste of time explaining what a new-wave, underground or whatever legend this band is. Fans know it. They also know that Mama Bubo's concerts in Prague are as rare as drum sheet notes. If you argue that Zdenek Duron does not use any sheet to play the drums, you are right - and you got quite a clear idea about the frequency of their performances. That is probably why there came more visitors than expected. The place was quite crowded during the performance, which may also be the reason of the magnificent atmosphere. No wonder that after the band played over most of its classicla psychedelic repertoir (yes, ladies and gentlemen, don't get musguided by the ne-wave labels, this was sheer psychedelia, almost noe of the reggae curls and new-romance keyboards, just pure rock-n-roll - psychedelic rage), the fans were not ready to release them from the stage. Karel Babuljak apologized for having some other duties, and because the rest of the band felt sympathy with the audience, they went on with an improvised lineup with Vlasta Matousek's 18-years-old daughter Anezka behind the microphone. Inicial jazzrock improvisations calmed the atmosphere (although Anezka's high-pitched voice made sure for us to stay alert). The few following songs by The Beatles heated it well again. That was not a nostalgic memory of the guitar beat of 1960s, that was an almost heavy-metal storm. There was a fitting remark from the public: "This is how it should have sounded originally!" For me, however, the song of the evening was Bobby Hebb's Sunny, which most of us know from di disco version by Boney M. I know the song in many versions, starting with the one mentioned of Boney M., also the original by Bobby Hebb from 1966, as well as the one by Cher or Stevie Wonder, and I always regarded it as one of those hundreds well-crafted American soul hits that are hardly distinguished one from another. And suddenly, I hear it from Mama Bubo, played without a single rehearsal in an improvised lineup with an 18 years old girl (well, an opera-singing student, as her father proudly anounced), and I say to myself, Oh God, this is it! Not to keep on just praising, there was one sing to regret. The pub is quite near and pleasant place but it is not designed for such a loud performance. Not only for its size but also due its iregular shape ("L shape and one more corner added"). I am not an expert in accoustics but I have a rough idea what the sound waves were doing there before getting in our ears - how it bounced, broke, stacked in layers and came to feedback to the microphones after several rebounds. Sometimes it required quite a bit of concentration to distinguish the main voice line from the disharmonic garbage that made the speaker membranes resonate (as well as our eardrums). In spite of the technical issues, the atmosphere was great and there is nothing more we can do but congratulate Mama Bubo with the excellent performance and wish them to keep the enthusiasm for the coming concerts, which are eagerly awaited by their fans. Some pictures available HERE:



Last update 2013-11-30 www.Czechmusic.net