I have seen these guys a few times because I've loved them for many years now. I'll willingly confess to being a fairly huge fan and have to say from the outset I am pretty biased towards their music/performances.
It's hard for me to write an objective review, so instead I'll just list the reasons I love them and why I thought that this tour they were better than ever:-
* Dallas Tamaira ("Joe Dukie") and his sweet, soulful vocals - he was so animated and dance-y and enjoying himself on stage, it was adorable and contagious and I liked seeing him with his gee-tar out.
* Speaking of contagious - Joe Lindsay ("Hopepa") and his incredible trombone-and-hip-swinging-skillz! You can't help but start dancing too! And he had his tuba out and it's bassiness revererated through your bones so good!
*And then there's the rest of the horn section, which isn't complete without all of them! Trumpet-player Toby Laing ("Tony Chang") is sweet and stylin' and super talented! and Scott Towers ("Chopper Reedz") on saxophone is cool and soulful and funky. And all three of them have this incredible way of playing simple notes sometimes and complicated melodies other times and blowing (so to speak) you away always.
* Chris Faiumu's ("DJ Fitchie") percussion and production is always smoooth and seamless and beats that bounce you around at a million and three different rythyms at once.
* Guitarist Tehimana Kerr ("Jetlag Johnson") can have you boppimg like a Wailer but he can also wail like Led Zeppelin... loved his and Dallas' and Dobie's mega--rock-out-jam-session.
* Iain Gordon ("Dobie Blaze") on keyboards is phenomenal... carries much of the show and lets it rip in his solos.
I am always so impressed by their level of skill and quality of sound and the tightness of their performance, and of course I expected them to be fantatsic, and as usual I was grinning from ear-to-ear and sweat was pouring off me from the uncontrollable booty-shaking... but I left feeling it was their best performance ever!