Live review: OMNOM, London Thursday 1st December 2022
An unorthodox, improvised venue (it’s a long story, but it was supposed to be at Rough Trade) lends to the anticipation of the live return of Lora Logic and her band, Essential Logic. It’s their first live show for over 40 years to announce their relaunch and the release of Land of Kali, a wonderfully spellbinding adventure that takes us through the looking glass to confront the dark world of Kali Yuga with transcendental humanity. Co-produced by Youth to heighten the magically maverick, fearless spirits, it’s their first studio album in over – you guessed it – 40 years.
Tessa Pollitt is providing the pre-show sounds…creating the vibe with her deep dub grooves. Tessa has always played music from the soul for the soul. This is the perfect warm-up. It’s nice to see Dave Flash, Lora’s sax partner in crime, amongst the crowd.
Lora and her band take the floor, opening with the funky, psychedelic title track of their new album. It’s terrific; full of Janaki’s syncopated drum grooves locking in with Greg with Alan’s funky guitar licks and Lora’s ethereal vocals. Prayer for Peace, a song originally recorded for X-Ray-Spex’s Conscious Consumer, is dreamily reinvented, vibrant in its restorative positivity and hope. Lora’s daughter Malini leads the vocals for Sky Rocket (they co-wrote it), a dreamy, mellow groove that flies an astral plane.
Essential Logic and Under The Great City provide the stepping stone from the chapters we’ve already loved and absorbed into the new Logic.
The single, Alien Boys, is a brilliantly unnerving slab of dark disco groove where Haladhar’s soaring space synths and Lora’s subversive sax really transmit the futuristic vibe syncing. The brilliant backdrop video chucks some subversive playfulness into the mix. It’s voted by the crowd as the one to close the set.
Much like the crowd, the music is liberating (and liberated), fearless and bristling with positivity that humanity will emerge from Kali, maybe not unscathed but maybe stronger. There’s a beauty in that.
Band:
Lora Logic – vocals, sax
Malini Murphy – vocals
Haladhar Devi Dasi – keyboards, vocals
Janaki Anderson – drums
Greg Bernas – bass
Alan Boyle – guitar
Setlist:
Land of Kali
Skyrocket
Prayer for Peace
Alien Boys
Under the Great City
Mother Earth
Essential Logic
Serious
Alien Boys (again by special request!)
https://www.essential-logic.co.uk
Land of Kali is available on Rough Trade:
https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/essential-logic/land-of-kali
