Live Review: Tom Thum & Jamie MacDowell

14 March 2016 | 11:31 am | Chris Komorek

"He's a human beatbox with unbelieveable falsetto and a throaty bass line that would probably get Skrillex hard."

"How did he make THAT noise?" That's the question you'll find yourself asking after literally anything that Tom Thum does.

He's a human beatbox with unbelievable falsetto and a throaty bass line that would probably get Skrillex hard. Jamie MacDowell, on the other hand, is like the Robin in this duo. He's soft-spoken, polite and has a beautiful voice. They make a hell of a team, and together, no sound seems impossible.

Having just released an EP, the audience were treated to most of it, along with some freestyling and a couple of classics mashed in between. The ability to switch genres, speed up or slow down the tempo and make it all work is brilliant. It's made all the more impressive when you realise it's coming from the vocal box of Thum.

They had a few technical issues over the course of the show, but they fixed it on the fly with great resilience. Their between-song banter is probably the only criticism of the show. The music side of it is phenomenal, but more crowd interaction and explanation of what we're listening to wouldn't go astray. It's obviously hard to get it to that point without it becoming a TEDx talk, and given that, their performance should be appreciated for what it is — an incredible display of natural talent.

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