Following the success of their sell-out Bristol debut at Lost Horizon earlier this year, Sheffield based jazz-funk ensemble Dreamflower Collective take their insatiable live reinterpretation of Childish Gambino’s Awaken My Love on the road for a 10-date UK tour.
Kicking off the tour with an appearance at Birmingham’s The Mill, the band will then hit Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club, Liverpool’s 24 Kitchen Street, Bristol’s Lost Horizon, Cardiff’s The Globe, Bournemouth’s Old Fire Station, London’s XOYO, a huge hometown show at the Foundry in Sheffield, Glasgow’s Stereo, and Newcastle’s The Cluny.
The collective first formed at Sheffield University in 2018 after bonding over a shared love for jazz, neo soul, hip-hop, and funk heightened by their involvement in various jazz groups. The eight-piece ensemble draw influence from the likes of D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Snarky Puppy, Hiatus Kaiyote, and Tarika Blue, the latter of whose track Dreamflower served as the inspiration for their namesake.
Since their inception, Dreamflower Collective has developed a distinctly soulful and dynamic re-interpretation project in addition to their own compositions, crafting contagious three-part harmonies, a mix of electronic and acoustic drums, and improvisation across keyboards, guitars, and bass for their own textured twist on the GRAMMY-nominated album. Their process involves learning each song by ear, allowing organic interpretations to flow after listening to each track instead of referring to transcriptions. The languid grooves and effortless rhythms of a group finely tuned to the wizardry of jazz improvisation are clear in the live performances.
After kicking off their interpretation project with D’Angelo’s first album Brown Sugar, the collective returned with their take on Awaken, My Love! at Sheffield’s Bungalows & Bears venue in 2019, which saw over 300 people trying to get into an already packed 400-capacity venue. Bolstered by the sell-out success of their first show, their sell-out performance at Bristol’s Lost Horizon raised expectations even higher, drawing rave feedback from an enchanted crowd.
Though the task of doing justice to an album that Pitchfork once called ‘lovingly produced funk worship’ is a daunting one for a group of some of the genre’s most ardent devotees, Dreamflower Collective blow expectations away while injecting a taste of their own palpable groove into their glorious live rendition of Awaken, My Love! An exciting new chapter for a group of extraordinarily talented musicians, Dreamflower Collective’s debut UK tour is for foot stompers, head shakers, Childish Gambino fans and funk disciples alike.
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Tour dates:
Tuesday, 17 October: Birmingham (The Mill)
Wednesday, 18 October : Leeds (Brudenell Social Club)
Friday, 27 October : Liverpool (24 Kitchen Street)
Tuesday, 7 November : Bristol (Lost Horizon)
Wednesday, 8 November : Cardiff (The Globe)
Thursday, 9 November : Bournemouth (The Old Fire Station)
Friday, 10 November : London (XOYO)
Friday, 24 November : Sheffield (Foundry)
Tuesday, 28 Nov : Glasgow (Stereo)
Wednesday, 29 Nov : Newcastle (The Cluny)
Dreamflower Collective’s Autumn Tour is a presentation by Café Kissa, TEG Live Europe, The Leadmill and 24 Kitchen Street.