War, Meltdown Festival, review: classic 1970s funk act still gets the crowd dancing in the aisles

There were no casualties when War broke out at the Royal Festival Hall, just dancing in the aisles as the groundbreaking Seventies US funk rock troupe played their first show in the UK in 16 years. Curated by soul superstar Chaka Khan, this year’s Meltdown Festival at London’s Southbank Centre has had a focus on music of black origin. The return to these shores of the unjustly neglected War might be Khan’s greatest coup.

“Back in 1969 / When we was young, dumb and full of wine / I wrote this song with a friend of mine,” rapped 75-year-old keyboard player and vocalist Lonnie Jordan, as they launched into a deliriously shambling Spill the Wine. The friend was the great Eric Burdon of the Animals. Surprisingly for such an American fusion ensemble, War was originally led by an Englishman, recruited in California as a backing band for Burdon.

This is a band with real rock history: Jimi Hendrix played his last ever performance jamming with War at Ronnie Scott’s in 1970, the night before he died. As they struck out on their own, their multi-ethnic line-up and sinuous fusion of blues, jazz, Latin and heavy rock elements rival Sly and the Family Stone for its power, potency and influence on 1970s funk, spawning hits including the steamy Low Rider and joyous Why Can’t We Be Friends? – the latter inspiring a smiling singalong at Meltdown.

War had the bestselling album in the US in 1973 with their classic The World is a Ghetto, yet somehow seem to have faded from collective memory. The Royal Festival Hall wasn’t quite sold out for their return, and it took this band of accomplished veterans a while to get the audience out of their seats and onto their feet. But in the end, their incredible playing, infectious enthusiasm and sinuous grooves proved irresistible.

Perhaps what hampered their impact were questions of presentation and provenance. Like a lot of long-running bands, line-ups have changed so much over the years that only one original member remains (with three being deceased, and three others splitting into a rival line-up, The Lowrider Band). Jordan’s version has shed the glowering heaviness of their early incarnation, and become a bit slick and superficial in presentation, Jordan peppering the set with corny patter that seemed mainly for the amusement of his fellow players. “I’m not getting on my knees to pray,” he declared, during The World is a Ghetto. “At 75, I might not be able to get back up.”

But you could not argue with the music. There is something about that steamy blend of saxophone and harmonica, jazzy organ, flaring guitar, fluid bass, dynamic drums, wild percussion and huge harmonies that is absolutely thrilling, especially played by veterans who delight in criss-crossing runs and licks. If this is War in 2024, then who needs peace?

Chaka Khan’s Meltdown festival continues until June 23. Tickets: southbankcentre.co.uk

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