Photo Courtesy of Getdown Services Appreciation Society<\/p>\n
Review by Stella Tongour<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels good to be stupid,\u201d projected Ben Sadler, from Getdown Services as he and counterpart, Josh Law graced the stage Wednesday night at Brighton Music Hall\u2013a sentiment that seems to be the motto of this British duo, whose fun and absurd music mirrors their unserious but electric energy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This was the only non\u2013sold-out stop on their North American tour, something they didn\u2019t let Boston forget. They facetiously chastised the crowd and feigned heartbreak that the room wasn\u2019t fully packed. Still, the bit never undercut their energy. From the start, they paired dry British humor with loose, funky dance moves that fell somewhere between ironic and fully committed.<\/span><\/p>\n They launched into the set with momentum, working against a crowd that, at least initially, seemed hesitant to let go. To be fair, Boston audiences tend to skew self-conscious, but Getdown Services pushed through. By sheer force of personality, they loosened the room. People started to move, laugh, and lean into their own playful sides.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Between songs, their banter heightened the experience. Before \u201cGet Back Jamie,\u201d they blurted: \u201cThis is about a TV chef called Jamie Oliver. Do you know who that is? He\u2019s an ugly c**t. Kidding, I\u2019m sure he\u2019s a nice bloke.\u201d The track is a sardonic, psych-funk jab at Oliver\u2019s brand. It refers to his \u201c15-Minute Meals\u201d book, criticizing the patronizing way it frames cooking for ordinary people. Like much of their catalog, it\u2019s absurd on the surface but pointed underneath.<\/span><\/p>\n Many of their tracks lean into a nonsensically simple paradigm, with lines like \u201cCan I have some crisps?\u201d or \u201cWhat\u2019s your favorite color? Mine\u2019s green.\u201d Something about these lyrics takes me back to childhood, listening to CDs of music made for children,\u00a0 where nothing touched sex, romance, or any of the usual radio themes, just playful randomness. Getdown Services warps the approach of these artists by incorporating profanity and irreverence, repurposing their style for an adult audience. Their lyricism feels like a product of the brain-rottedness of our times, but somehow a critique of it as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sonically, there are flashes of KNEECAP, but Getdown Services feels less self-righteous and more committed to tonal chaos. It\u2019s fun and refreshing, not to mention danceable. No one else is doing it quite like them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The pace changed briefly for one of the night\u2019s tenderest moments, a performance of \u201cI Wish It Didn\u2019t Bother Me.\u201d Law took this one on himself, performing it solo on guitar while Sadler stepped back and watched proudly. The song deals with alienation and the frustration of caring too much about things that shouldn\u2019t matter. The vulnerability landed, and the moral of the song felt apt for a Boston crowd that started off self-conscious. By the song\u2019s close, you could feel the audience letting down their defenses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Following this track, the band generously gifted the crowd a first-play of a new unreleased track, introducing it as a song about \u201cfeeling really happy.\u201d I\u2019m choosing to interpret this description as classic British sarcasm, because the song itself was heavier than they let on, built around the repeating hook: \u201cI can\u2019t die like that.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Still, the show never stayed serious for long. They joked about touring Harvard earlier that day, describing it as \u201cless attractive than the least attractive thing in England.\u201d They continued this tease, suggesting it was the sort of place \u201cwhere we buy our shoes,\u201d and honestly, I can’t fault them for this take. Nothing like drab brick buildings and centuries of institutional self-importance to announce you\u2019ve arrived at the best university in the world. Welcome to Massachusetts.<\/span><\/p>\n Their humor extended from verbal jests into their physicality, moving with robotic arm swings, sudden dabs, and exaggerated physical bits. This physical comedy only escalated as the set went on. Law had been shirtless from the beginning, and at some point Sadler followed suit. For \u201cCaesar,\u201dthey instructed the crowd to pair up, link arms, and spin, demonstrating the movements first. By the end of this track, Law poetically stage-dived. It was clear that the band\u2019s energy had captured and inspired the audience as they carried him throughout Brighton Music Hall.<\/span><\/p>\n Going into the show, I had a feeling Getdown Services could be the next big thing, and this performance confirmed my suspicions. Their music occupies a unique niche that sets them apart: it\u2019s funny, it makes you think, but it also lets you forget, offering release as it pulls you onto the dance floor. Sadler\u2019s and Law\u2019s personalities could be described the exact same way. They have the it-factor necessary for success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Overall, seeing Getdown Services at Brighton Music Hall felt like catching a musical movement early. I have a feeling that the next time they\u2019re back in the States, it likely won\u2019t be in a venue of this size\u2014maybe something more like an MGM Music Hall. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo Courtesy of Getdown Services Appreciation Society Review by Stella Tongour \u201cIt feels good to be stupid,\u201d projected Ben Sadler, from Getdown Services as he and counterpart, Josh Law graced the stage Wednesday night at Brighton Music Hall\u2013a sentiment that seems to be the motto of this British duo, whose fun and absurd music mirrors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25741,"featured_media":53971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[215,2703],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53970"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25741"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53970"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54137,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53970\/revisions\/54137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}