St Germain performed at the Auckland Town Hall on Friday and I was there looking swank and nonchalant among far more modish Aucklanders for some delicious sound feasting. From the stuff that I have listened to, their game seems a mix of jazz and house music and rhythm and probably techno although I would not know techno if it was played loud enough to bleed my ears.
The evening began with something blue and something purple and something red and something diluted with a little chocolate and proceeded with smooth grace into some great swaying and swinging - and that was just my head.
Jazz and electronic are rather different genres of music - the one seems to me to be all about the performer and the other all about the instrument (or lack thereof). But mixed together St Germain style, it sounds excellent especially since the showmanship of band members kept the liveness of the thing so fresh.
The band was not quite what I expected. I'd heard "French jazz band" and expected a smattering of zoot suitted dandies with thick french accents. These guys with their t-shirts and dreads seemed so laid back and looked to be having so much fun themselves you could not help but join in.
Among the two dozen or so "june twentyseconds" I have lived through, this was one of my finer Fridays.