FLAMINGODS @ The Joiners Southampton
Flamingods is a collective of five, Karthik, Charles, Sam, Craig and Kamal, four of the guys who were childhood friends formed the band in Bahrain, a small Arabian country in 2009. They got noticed after a gig in 2010 with All Tomorrow's Parties (or ATP as it’s known to many), an organization that hosts and promotes festivals, and are now signed with Soundway records with four albums to their name. Their music is an eclectic mix of sounds and melodies from many sources and influences with an impressive display of unnameable instruments which results in their very unique ‘Psychedelic Exotic’ style.
The Joiners regularly host Psychedelia South events such as this to showcase the best of psychedelic music which is undeniably making a comeback in the British mainstream with 60’s and 70’s vibes channelled through Australian music such as Tame Impala, who won the Brit award for Best International Group last year.
Flamingods treated their tech set up like complex brain surgery, testing every twang, drone and hum from their menagerie of stringed, whistle and percussion instruments before a crowd of intrigued Southampton cider swiggers. Meditatively they took their places as the lead singer Kamal adorned a hat made of cowrie shells, yes it was as trippy as it sounds, before wailing a tune comparable to that of something you would hear from a mosque at dawn. The ice was broken. The mix of electric guitar and eastern sounds produced something reminiscent of The Beetles in the 60s, and just like a collection of hippy mums at a garden party, we were swaying, as an audience rather than a crowd; subdued and entranced.
Flamingods’ set evolved from their more relaxed, psychedelic tracks such as Rhama into playing more percussion and guitar led songs such as Jungle Birds and Hyperborea that were embellished with sections of solo not included in the published albums that made the performance feel truly personal. Their impressive way of building up the audience slowly resulted in the lead singer Kamal jumping from the stage and dancing with his mic lead flailing as if charming a snake; in the space they created nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Flamingods are at the forefront of psychedelic music, and if you spy their name on the line up of an obscure festival or a flyer then I invite you to share in the experience of their live set, because their sound heard though wires and speakers just doesn’t compare.
Image sourced from: https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/interview-with-flamingods