Last Friday night the Heavy Silence team headed into Town for the much-anticipated first London show for Jordan Rakei & his newly formed band. As many of you will know, we have been avid followers of his for a couple of years so the thought of seeing him live was a no brainer. Jordan is a Neo Soul / Jazz musician from Australia, he gained a huge following on his Soundcloud after his debut EP release; Franklins Room was released. He followed that up with ‘Groove Curse’ late 2014 and has worked with a number of great up & coming producers such as Tom Misch, Esta, FKJ and J Louis.

So back to the gig, they had selected the infamous 100 Club on Oxford Street, believe it or not, many years ago this was one of the most respected ‘dancers’ spots in London with integral Chicken Shop which I guess kept the ravers energised! Nowadays its very different, the home to live music in London, still trailing behind the likes of Ronnie Scotts and The Jazz Café, it fits more into the punk & indie realms of Camden.

Jordans & the band took to the stage around 8:30pm while the venue filled up and word got around that Jordan was expected to hit the stage at 9:30pm. True to the rumours and in his laid back, casual manner, he strolled on stage on time to the cheers of crowd. He opened up with a couple of new tracks, at this point people were just happy to hear his voice in the flesh (if that makes sense). Then came ‘A Tribe Called Government’, little to Jordans knowledge it was a fan favourite and sing-along for the diverse audience.

During the hour-long performance, we seen the band ‘Jazz Up’ a few of the tracks from the EP’s, not sure if that was something new they were trying but it certainly gave an otherwise laid back record more of a dance floor feel. They also performed the much loved tracks, Add the Bassline and of course, Selfish.

Mid way through the gig Jordan made a joke and said ‘thanks for coming to our audition’ but it really felt that way, he & the band were so comfortable and loved every single second of the performance. The energy in the building was amazing and I’m sure Jordan won’t forget that in a hurry.

We have seen amazing things happen to Jarrod Lawson in the last 12 months and see absolutely no reason why this man can’t follow in his footsteps!

Follow us on Twitter @HeavySilenceLDN