Bassist virtuoso Thundercat's Sunday (June 4) evening set was a highlight of the weekend-long Field Trip festival, though his time slot had him competing directly with Feist. When Thundercat and his band took the stage, they did so to one of the largest audiences seen that day. Those numbers quickly started to dwindle, due to the evening's crammed scheduling that pitted stages against one another (unlike the night before, which left a short buffer between each set). People who had been dancing along to Thundercat's music one minute were packing up their picnic blankets and chairs the next so they could get a good spot at the neighbouring stage.
Those that stuck it out, though, were treated to Thundercat's talents on full display. Beginning with Drunk album opener "Rabbot Ho," he worked his way into the popular "Tron" (his pet cat) song suites. While Apocalypse's "Tron Song" is only about two minutes long, the live version was a completely different beast. Thundercat and his band used his recorded material as jumping off points, establishing a song's themes and hooks before banking left into completely improvised territory. The interplay between voice, bass, keys and drums spilled over with funky intuition, taking listeners on an odyssey of shifting time signatures, opening the songs up from their personal, almost bedroom-y focus to a universe all their own.
Those that stuck it out, though, were treated to Thundercat's talents on full display. Beginning with Drunk album opener "Rabbot Ho," he worked his way into the popular "Tron" (his pet cat) song suites. While Apocalypse's "Tron Song" is only about two minutes long, the live version was a completely different beast. Thundercat and his band used his recorded material as jumping off points, establishing a song's themes and hooks before banking left into completely improvised territory. The interplay between voice, bass, keys and drums spilled over with funky intuition, taking listeners on an odyssey of shifting time signatures, opening the songs up from their personal, almost bedroom-y focus to a universe all their own.
