Live Review

Polar Bear – Southbank Centre, London

• 26th Apr 2010

The good people at the Southbank Centre perhaps underestimated the popularity of Polar Bear when they booked them to play a free gig in the Queen Elizabe¬th Hall last Friday afternoon. It looked like they’d set up the Front Room for a small group of dedicated jazz enthusiasts sipping wine while Polar Bear tootled away quietly. Instead they were descended upon en masse, chairs quickly engulfed, people perched in window ledges and spilling out the door, fans almost sitting on the stage. It was an impressive sight.

It’s an apt reflection of Polar Bear’s music. Yes, it’s jazz, but it’s not the distinguished-old-guy jazz we’ve become all too used to. Reviewers often talk about the difficulty of categorising these guys, led by drummer Sebastian Rochford – the words ‘experimental’ and ‘irreverent’ appear often. Here we have young, talented musicians breaking a few rules and letting creativity reign, which gives us a bit of an exciting musical ride. The thing is though, isn’t that what jazz is all about?

And it is, to use a word many jazz anoraks would hate, accessible stuff. Emotionally charged, melodic, catchy, interesting and just plain fun. Which explains the crowd, and the variety of people who turned up to check them out.

“It’s about sharing the music really,” said Tom Herbert, on double bass, to Glasswerk when asked about doing the gig for free. “And it’s great playing here, with the sunshine streaming in and the river outside. People walking past can just come in, people might hear us who haven’t before.”

The hour-and-a-half-long set list comprised mainly songs from the band’s recent release, Peepers, and ended with the album’s title track (which was mean, because it’s so damn catchy it’ll stick with you all the way home). The highlight of the afternoon though, probably had to be Want to Believe Everything, which Rochford introduced as being about “how we have to have faith in people, be open to people”. Gentle climbing scales on the double bass evoked a sense of peace, while lively, quirky drums added joy and the silvery saxophones just made the heart soar. Lovely stuff.

“It’s been really good,” said Rochford to Glasswerk after the gig. (He’s a sweet, quiet little guy who’s about 50% hair.) “I think it’s this space. And maybe the fact that it’s daytime? In venues where you play at night it can all be…” Intense? “Yeah, but here it’s been more relaxed.”