The euphoria hits hard. Kosheen create soaring soundscapes that go further and last longer than any pharmaceutical high. Twenty-five years after recording their debut album, Resist and Sian Evans is still an icon. A raver queen who has soundtracked a generation of party people. So much so that midway through this headline set she surveys the pulsating mass packing out this decorative Camden venue and simply says, “I don’t know if we can go any higher than this?!”. Those in the upper stalls already feel close to the gods, but Sian has the ability to take everyone to a higher plane.
Dripping with assertive positivity, born no doubt from Sian’s own struggles which she alludes to when reminiscing about how an enforced move to Bristol once saved her. A time when she was, “embraced by a community that had fuck all, but we had each other, and we shared everything we had”.
Sian certainly pays it forward and continues to spread the love. After playing All In My Head, she asserts, “People who sing together, stick together – we’re a force to be reckoned with!”. The familiar strains of Empty Skies start and the audience participation peaks again as everyone sings along to the totally infectious drum’n’bass grooves. It’s a song dear to my heart, quite literally, as it has remained a permanent fixture on my running mix for so long. Ain’t no mountain (or grassy slope in the local park) that Kosheen cannot overcome. Inhale that energy. Koko is close to being the embodiment of what Bjork once described in Big Time Sensuality. Hedonists unite.
This night had begun calmly enough with the incongruous sight of an orchestra positioned on the stage behind Sian and the band. From festival favourites to classical music in Camden – it’s a journey few here could’ve envisaged back in those noughties nights of escapism and uninhibited joy. Opening with the psyched-out, almost industrial Swamp, Kosheen and Sian are ready, “So many beautiful faces, we’re going to celebrate together, right!” and they proceed to rip straight into the hypnotic drum’n’bass drive of Demonstrate from the famed Resist album from 2001.
At times, Sian can be more Florence than Florence – with or without a machine – especially on the anthemic Hungry. Before the dnb cool of (Slip & Slide) Suicide, there are calmer moments, including Face In A Crowd, and the orchestral brass flourishes on I Want It All. Kosheen always produce such a pan-European dance sound that it feels somehow wrong to hear Sian speak with her Welsh accent!
Over an hour later and Camden is still bouncing with Sian proclaiming, “That’s what music is designed to do!” She’s grateful too, “to the people who have helped me keep this shit together…”. There’s time for two more classic cuts from the debut album. The pounding dnb slab of Hide U leads appropriately into the determined vibe of Catch. Sian remains full of love and affection as ever and humbly thanks everyone for joining Kosheen “to celebrate twenty-five years of our journey here tonight – what a privilege!” Back in 2001, Kosheen created anthems for a shroomed youth and for the Camden crowd tonight the party has never really stopped. This is elevation music.
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