by Donte Kirby
“I like to interact with the audience, if they’re in a rat mood and you’re in a rat mood it could make for something special . . . or not special,” says Connan Mockasin and for fans in attendance at Voyeur Nightclub in Center City, it was most definitely a special night.
Connan Mockasin’s goal was to have his album, Caramel, sound slick, flirty and as reminiscent of caramel as it could possibly be. His performance at Voyeur was that and more. He flirted with the audience on stage, grabbing hands and dancing in rhythm with those in front of the stage until during the song “I Wanna Roll With You” he went out into the audience. He walked out into the middle of the audience and sat them around him as he sung his sultry tunes. As he was off stage, a member of the crowd he brought on stage danced with the rest of the band.
A long way since his first band, The Foreskins, the name thought of by his dad who Connan imagines got a kick out of his principal introducing The Foreskins at school assemblies. The New Zealander that, for the past eight years has resided in London, showed that the first time can indeed be the charm at his first show in Philly. Anyone in attendance who were on the fence about Connan Mockasin before are fans now, I know I am.
“I like albums as whole things that make sense as a piece instead of just songs, that’s what I would like them to get,” says Connan when asked what he want his fans to get out of Caramel. That cohesiveness as a whole piece showed in his performance, as one song naturally flowed into the next and the crowd’s energy naturally ebbed and flowed.
Connan’s next stop on his tour is Toronto at the Drake Hotel Underground. In a year that will be packed with touring, any fans that missed him this time shouldn’t worry because Connan will be back later in the year.
