DOCTOR PRATS
Rock Aham Sigah!
After an exuberant opening performance at last night’s Red Marquee that pretty much upstaged everyone else on the bill, Doctor Prats kicked off proceedings at the White Stage in similar style with a set that repeated much of Thursday’s gems, but added a few extra tunes to the range of their previous offering.
Having started off in 2014 as a “virtual group” Doctor Prats initially had no intentions of being a live band. Fortunately, fate had other ideas and a year later the band were not only playing live, but had their second album made. It’s a good thing the band changed tack and went live as one can’t really imagine them as Youtube bedroom band, such is the energy emanating from the stage. Bouncy, Latin-heavy number “Ara!” started the show, followed by “M’he trobat”, a tune at first laden lazy and dark with a dub-heavy beat and echoed horns, before transitioning into a up-tempo mid-section, ending with a frenetic dub-step disco with the whole band leaping around on stage.
Electronics are something the band doesn’t shy away from. Dub-step made an appearance later on in “Aham Sigah”, a nonsense phrase the band uses as a battle cry. Initially following a more traditional Latin style, the song segued into electronic beats and bass drops, while “Singalele” channelled an Afro-caribbean vibe laced with electronica. It’s clear the band embrace fusion and experimentation, and their approach clearly works as the White Stage crowd lapped up the music, the choreography and the good mood. Final song “La recepta” brought synth-heavy electroswing to the formula, accented with jazzy scat vocals from singer Marc Riera and trombonist Guillem Bolto and ended yet again in a party breakdown that, literally, had the whole White Stage crowd bouncing.
With one more show in the early hours of Saturday morning (Crystal Palace, 03:15) the band are well worth staying up for and are sure to keep bringing the party into tomorrow.
