Dizraeli and The Small Gods play Vibraphonic Festival

Dizraeli and the Small Gods were welcomed by a diverse audience at Exeter Phoenix on Friday night as part of the Exeter Vibraphonic Festival 2013. The band were visibly excited as they played well-known songs such as ‘Never Mind’ and ‘Little Things’, as well as promoting their first ever album, ‘Moving in the Dark’.

They may already have seven very different members, but the band’s talents seem to make for endless musical combinations. When she wasn’t decorating Dizraeli’s rhymes with haunting backing vocals, band member Cate Ferris was on the flute or mouth accordion. Although another member, Bellatrix was suffering with severe tonsillitis, she took time out from her bluesy double bass playing to showcase her World Female Beat-boxing Champion talents. She dedicated the jam to her grandfather who was in the audience; it was something of a homecoming gig for Bellatrix, as she is originally from Crediton. The four other band members covered everything from turntables and bass guitar to the viola between them, making for a distinctly layered sound.

Although known for their unashamedly British, folky take on hip-hop, their constantly flowing melodies sometimes strayed into oriental, Latino and even Celtic vibes, making for the impression of a musical journey.

Whilst his ‘Gods’ proved themselves to be in no way ‘Small’, it is Dizraeli who truly stole the show, bringing the straying threads and beats together with his clever rhymes. Like the music itself, Dizraeli’s lyrics had a multitudinous quality: taking on everything from partying and people creeping around in the dark to the most profoundly painful of loves.

By the end of the concert, it was easy to see how Dizraeli and the Small Gods have engaged such a varied and adoring public. The band’s musical creations may be complex and ever-changing, but they come together under a theme that is common to everyone: that of the dizzying heights and banal lows of human existence.

Finally, the band clearly loves as much as it is loved. At the end of the show, Dizraeli repeatedly thanked his audience and shouted ‘I love you guys!’ Then, after the show, the band stuck around to talk to their fans and sell copies of their new album.