Lovely intimate gig in the Spiegeltent tonight with Arthur Jeffes and Oli Langford who, together, are Sundog. They are better known playing together in Penguin Cafe in a reboot of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra which was started 40 years ago by Arthur's father Simon after a bad bout of food poisoning. Simon died at an early age when Arthur was still a young boy and as he grew up, he wanted to continue his father's work - and it has taken a while for Penguin Cafe to rise out of the roots that his father planted. The orchestra came to Norwich in the festival two years ago and I also saw them at The Dome in Brighton both gigs I really enjoyed but as I was in the cheap seats up the back, I could only hear and not see much. So for me this was a must-see show of the festival and a great opportunity to get up close.
In a post-gig chat Arthur said that Sundog gives him a platform on which to experiment without risking the success and reputation of Penguin Cafe and upsetting its loyal fanbase. He obviously loved his father's music and although he has ideas and a style of his own the influences are obvious. And so in this gig they tried out a number of new techniques including pedals and a metronome fed through a laptop. In fact, it didn't sound all that radical, maybe it was just new to them - to me it sounded pretty classic PCO. But with a very open, manner, good humour and a rapport with the audience they played probably 12 or so tunes with characteristic Penguin Cafe style. And if you don't like that then this is not the gig for you. But if you do, it's pure delight to be in up close to the essential Penguin Cafe sound. Lovely. I hope they return soon
In a post-gig chat Arthur said that Sundog gives him a platform on which to experiment without risking the success and reputation of Penguin Cafe and upsetting its loyal fanbase. He obviously loved his father's music and although he has ideas and a style of his own the influences are obvious. And so in this gig they tried out a number of new techniques including pedals and a metronome fed through a laptop. In fact, it didn't sound all that radical, maybe it was just new to them - to me it sounded pretty classic PCO. But with a very open, manner, good humour and a rapport with the audience they played probably 12 or so tunes with characteristic Penguin Cafe style. And if you don't like that then this is not the gig for you. But if you do, it's pure delight to be in up close to the essential Penguin Cafe sound. Lovely. I hope they return soon
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