Woo hoo! Rock and roll in da house! Well, UK rock and roll in the form of
Cornershop Saturday night at the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco. The groove
rock outfit was in town for the first time in years, supporting their new album, Handcream
For A Generation. The band took to the stage one at a time, each member coming in and
picking up their instrument and joining in on an instrumental groove that had been started by
the bassist, along with a DAT track. Sitar, drums, bongos and three guitars were eventually
added to the mantra, the first hint at what was in store for the rest of the evening.
The band was exceptionally tight, rocking and grooving through hits old and new, with
standouts “Sleep on the Left Side,” “Staging The Plaguing of the Raised Platform, “People
Power, and “Funky Days Are Back Again” shining exceptionally brightly. Frontman
Tjinder Singh, who was resplendent in his black pinstriped suit, was having a bit of
difficulty with his guitar/sound person, but it didn’t stop the rest of the band from picking up
the slack and getting the crowd’s collective ass a-shakin’. The band closed with their biggest
hit, “Brimful of Asha” (which sure sounds amazingly slow when you’re used to hearing the
Fatboy Slim remix) and then their new single, “Lessons Learned From Rocky I to
Rocky III,” both of which had the entire flooring moving. The encore number was an
extended rock jam, with plenty of Eastern influence, much like the rest of the show. The
‘Shop may have disappeared for four years, but they didn’t forget how to bring it
live.
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