Live Review: YTO at The Sage Gateshead

By Emma Hill

Energetic, fun, inclusive, ecstatic, care free; these are the words I would use to describe The Yiddish Twist Orchestra. On February 24th 2013 I went to The Sage in Gateshead to see the Yiddish Twist Orchestra perform. The band featured Natty Bo, an international, retro styled vocalist; along with Ben Mandelson (electric guitar), Robin Harris (keys and Vox organ), David Bitelli (saxophone and clarinet), Paul Tkachenko (bass guitar), Steve Chadwick (trumpet), Guy Schalom (drums) and Paul Taylor (trombone).
The atmosphere was buzzing as people gathered in their seats awaiting the quirky Yiddish extravaganza that lay ahead of them. People of all different ages attended, from late teens to late fifties. From the outset it was clearly a fun, relaxed atmosphere as Natty Bo laughed and joked with everyone in the audience. He was keen to encourage everyone to get up and dance and it wasn’t long before they were also doing the Yiddish Twist. The other band members were all such charismatic characters, and were keen to include the audience as much as possible. In between each song, they would chat and laugh with each other and the audience, this felt almost rehearsal like. It didn’t seem staged and static but instead fun and engaging. It was aspects like this that made the performance so captivating. The only formal feature was their matching suits and blue ties, but even then David Bitelli had a sneaky change into his converse trainers.

They performed a variety of songs, some fronted by Natty Bo, whereas others were just the incredible sounds of their instruments. The changes between the slow and up beat songs were fluid, so people weren’t sitting for long. The audience was keen to sing along to the songs and it was the joint incorporation of the band and audience that gave the whole evening a unique atmosphere.

The band reached beyond the normal expectations of a gig by incorporating props in the last few songs. One of which being bagels that the band ended up throwing into the audience which received a humorous response.

The Yiddish Twist Orchestra was a one off experience. It captured that hidden Jazz, Folk and Rock characteristic of 50’s and 60’s and the post war British music revolution like no other band. By the end of it, no one could resist doing the Yiddish Twist.