Zvuloon Dub System headlined a show held at the beautiful Imperial club on Friday night that had most on their feet Ethiopian reggae party style. Called “Israel’s top reggae band” – yet Zvuloon Dub System is more than that! Emerging from a multicultural middle-eastern music scene, the eight-piece band sings in both English and Amharic, seamlessly fusing influences from a variety of music styles – Ethiopian jazz, rare grooves from the 70s, American soul, funk and jazz, all impressively blending alongside Israeli mizrahi music. The band who’s performance was their first in Vancouver, managed to swoon the audience into singing along, clapping and dancing. The group has musicians playing all sorts of instruments, the lead singer (Gili Yalo) was energetic with an emerging presence. With an amazing horn section of trumpet and sax, the 2 members had a solid sound that carried each of the songs. For the Mount Zion song, the lead singer taught the crowd the simple lyrics which turned into a great rendition. Towards the end of the show their was an electric guitar solo that magnified the audience into joy. Adopting their name from one of the twelve tribes of Israel, the band was formed in 2006 by the Smilan brothers. Ilan Smilan, Lead Guitar and Asaf Smilan, Drums and Percussions; the other members include Inon Peretz, Trumpet, Idan Salomon, Alto Sax, Ilan Adiri, Tenor Sax, Simon Nahum, Rhythm Guitar Lior Romano, Organ, andTal Marcus, Bass.
Opening act was Twin Wave from Brooklyn, New York also new to Vancouver, as they said this Vancouver performance was their first outside of New York, and hopefully it won’t be their last, this 5 member group had a solid rock sound. Labeled as a psych-pop band Twin Wave, fuses elements of jazz, soul, rock and pop into a sound that’s both fresh and vibrant.