The Phenomenal Handclap Band – 15 To 20
24th July 2022 · UncategorisedI met these guys by chance in New York when I went down to visit East Village Radio station one day in 2009 – and later caught their live debut in London.
Daniel Collás and Sean Marquand were DJing in the tiny “studio” in the window between a pizza joint and a restaaurant called Lil Frankie’s on 1st &1st.
Between tunes they told me about their group, The Phenomenal Handclap Band and a while later, back in London, I went to see what I think was their first UK gig.
It was in a basement venue called Notting Hill Arts Club and the place was rammed, mostly with teenage girls.
It turned out they hadn’t heard of the Phenoms, as I doubt anyone except me called them, but were there for the headline act, who I hadn’t heard of.
He was a good-looking young fellow in a pork pie hat who had not released a record yet but had posted a bunch of songs on YouTube and won himself a loyal following among the aforementioned teenage girls.
They all sang along to every word of what was also a London debut for Bruno Mars, while I stood at the back feeling baffled by this new trend of internet pop sensations who grown-ups had never heard of.
The Phenoms were utterly fantastic too, with a huge array of musicians onstage competing for attention by blending just about every genre of music from Seventies funk and disco to proggy keyboard passages and wig-out guitar solos.
This was their best song then, and remains their best song now. And if you like it, it’s worth tracking down the many remixes online.