There is a healthy amount of funk one should have on a Sunday night and this week it was provided by Winston Surfshirt at Cassiopeia.
The Australian band began their tour in Berlin, in promotion of their latest album, Apple Crumble – keeping their baked goods-themed album titles. The tour had been postponed due to scheduling problems with the album release late last year, so it was a show played with a prolonged sense of anticipation for many audience members.
Surfshirt played their second single from the new album ‘Make You Move’ early in the set, and if their aim for the night was to fulfil the title of the song then the goal was reached almost instantly. The song’s deep, popping bassline had the crowd dancing and they rarely stopped for the rest of the set.
The band’s enjoyment on stage was clear to see, and frontman Winston had the crowd engaged the throughout with his energy. The band’s namesake – who was constantly dancing – came out into the audience and had everyone singing along before transitioning into a cover of Montell Jordan’s ‘This Is How We Do It’. Surfshirt’s unmistakable hip-hop/funk/indie-rock sound, coupled with Winston’s distinct vocal tone, really made the song their own – a hallmark of all successful covers.
They ended with their most famous track and debut single ‘Be About You’ which, despite only being 3 years old, has spearheaded Winston Surfshirt’s early success. Their unique, genre-crossing music has made them such an exciting band to look forward to and they can boast being one of Elton John’s favourite bands at the moment.
As the Berlin show was the first show of the European tour, there’s plenty more to come so it’s definitely worth it to try and get along to any of the upcoming shows for a guaranteed night of boogying.