Nahko And Medicine For The People @ The Hi-Fi

The good vibes were buzzing and the dreadlocks were swinging at this quasi-Rock The Gate sideshow. The anti-fracking festival had an overtly political bent, and it was imported here whether the audience signed up for it or not.

With probably the most infectious smile to ever grace The Hi-Fi, Dustin Thomas kicked the night off by asking everyone to “breathe in and release all that bullshit you left at the door”. His acoustic-meets-beat-boxing style is the kind of thing you’d expect from a weary world traveller who gets by on a smile, a battered guitar and the kindness of strangers. If you like your music with a spiritual streak, ‘Strong Like Jah’ and ‘Awake, Rise, Shine’ will hit the feel-good spot.

Next up was the inimitable Trevor Hall, whose smoky voice was powerful enough that it barely mattered when he stopped strumming along. His acoustic reggae music has an edge to it, a sense of sadness that adds depth. Older songs like ‘Chapter Of The Forest’ were received well. But newer material like ‘Wish Man’ (prefaced by a story about a homeless man in New Orleans) and ‘Obsidian’ had a stripped-back quality that gave them room to expand and build, and translated live powerfully.

20 minutes into Nahko and Medicine For The People’s set and we were still finishing off a prayer (albeit one accompanied with music), after already having a talk about fracking, the current “situation” in Ferguson and a traditional welcome to the land (actually very cool). Nahko somehow pulled this off with a mix of charisma, genuine political intentions and a benevolent crowd on the same wavelength. When the band finally did launch in, the music had a hard rock quality that doesn’t come out nearly as strongly on recordings. Elements like a blistering three-way guitar jam during which Nahko bent over backwards – literally – ramped things up at least a few levels.

Partway through, a rallying speech made on behalf of Lock The Gate was a call to action against fracking. It brought up the question of the intersection between political activism and music, most potent when Nahko mixes it with the raw honesty of tracks like ‘Dark As Night’ and ‘Aloha Ke Akua’. If you tend to find Nahko’s peculiar but uplifting style a little sentimental or naïve, know that live it takes on new life, and it won’t disappoint.