When it was announced that Radical Dance Faction (RDF) would be playing the tiny venue of Southsea’s Birdcage tickets officially sold out within 24 hours, with the last handful of places changing hands on a need to know basis making for something of a special occasion.
The night was also as much about catching up with a few people as it was the gig itself, so although having missed the support acts and with Radical Dance Faction’s Chris Bowsher dedicating the evening to a friend who had recently passed away, the atmosphere was far from sombre as the bass kicked in and the headliners took to the stage.
It was the dub reggae basslines that would continue to impress, the band would be lost without them and whilst RDF have seen various line-up changes over the years the current rhythm section of bass player and the drummer work well underneath the beat poet of Chris Bowsher and his spoken word delivery.
Tracks such as “Babylon is Burning“ of course are among the highlights, they may be missing the female vocals these days but this is made up for by the crowd singing along and Bowsher appears in good spirits in-between songs. RDF were without a guitarist when I saw them before, whereas this time around the subtle guitars on “Free State” add to the bass heavy mix and the band take a more ska influenced turn towards the end of the main set with “Surplus People” having the crowd skanking, for there was still room to dance at this particular sold out gig with the floor to the upstairs venue certainly bouncing.
Things may have started to get a little sketchy by the time a very loose version of the traditional drinking song “Dirty old town” came around, fatigue setting in as frontman Chris Bowsher showed appreciation for how hard it is for musicians to keep going… it did however take them little persuasion to do just that and with a couple more upbeat numbers the intimate crowd had been treated to a performance of Radical Dance Faction at their best.
