Komedia, 4th November 2009
Dirty electro beats overlapped with a fusion of hip-hop and aggressive rock anthems. This is perhaps as close as you could get to categorising this extraordinary duo of musicians who were performing a long way from home at Komedia on Wednesday night. The pair met and began their partnership in song writing at the Boulder University of Colorado in the United States and formed 3OH!3 in 2004. The name 3OH!3, though somewhat unusual, is perhaps more obvious a selection than you might think, it is their area code in Colorado where they formed.
Fresh from their tour on mainland Europe which included a show in Paris, 3OH!3 arrived on stage in Brighton seemingly pumped up, and were received by a rapturous applause from the predominantly teenage audience. When playing live the two front men of the group, Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte, are joined by their touring party of musicians, Kantin Mohager and Adam Halferty. The former of the two (donning the bass guitar on this occasion) was nicknamed affectionately by his audience as ‘Borat’ on account of his unfortunate choice of facial hair. The latter being their backing drummer, defined his presence not through his peculiar appearance but with high speed drum loops beautifully in time with the electro bass lines. Together, the two backing musicians added some extra spice to the set, which was slick and very tightly in sync with itself and with the audience. In a state constant of interaction with the five hundred strong capacity crowd, 3OH!3 showed a clear understanding of their youth based demographic of fans. Frequently inviting their ‘sexiest dance moves’, 3OH!3 played parents to an evidently young group, constantly encouraging them to ‘hydrate’ and to avoid ‘gangbanging those in front’ when cramming forward. Comments like this to the audience sent the atmosphere through the roof, as if it needed any added fuel to the fire at this point.
The tracks that seemed to send the fans bonkers were ‘Choke Chain’ (which was triggered into action emphatically with Foreman screaming “who’s ready to tear this motherfucker up?”), ‘I’m Not Your Boyfriend Baby’ and ‘Rich Man’. However it was the final track ‘Don’t Trust Me’ that capped of an energetic, atmospheric and ground breaking performance that grabbed the attention of all involved and never let go. With their unrelenting booming bass lines, drum loops and almost vengeful lyrical tendencies 3OH!3 put on a gutsy and impressive show, making them an act to look out for in the future.
Words by James Rowland
Photography by Sam Bond
3oh3music.com
What did you think of the gig?
Richard: 10/10 “It was amazing, the best track was ‘Don’t Trust Me’”
Molly: 8/10 “Really good, I really enjoyed it, my favourite tracks were ‘Don’t Trust Me’ and ‘Choke Chain’, I gave it an 8/10 because I’ve seen better but it was still good.”
Kate: 8/10 “I thought it was fantastic, really, really good. My favourite track was ‘Don’t Trust Me’ and I thought Komedia was a great venue.”
Rose: 10/10 “It was amazing, my favourite tracks were ‘Star Struck’ and ‘Don’t Trust Me’ but if Katy Perry was there for ‘Star Struck’ it would have been better.”
