My review on Wednesday night’s Ladytron‘s concert will be done using quotes from some of their most popular songs.
They only want you when you’re seventeen / When you’re twenty-one / You’re no fun
The last time I saw Ladytron, they were playing at the Opera House and it was not the greatest show. Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo looked uncomfortable at front of the stage, barely moved and most of the Ladytron set was performed note for note..which is great, but lacked the spontaneity that makes a lot of live shows memorable. This time around, the two ladies looked a lot more comfortable at the front of the stage, dancing a bit (you know you have minimalism down when the crowd gasps if you lift your arm a little) and generally seemed to be having a good time in front of stage. The relaxed nature of the two definitely permeated into the crowd which provided for a more energetic show as people were free to just dance instead of staring at the band and wondering why they don’t do anything. Goes to prove you can have more fun with age.
Liquid crystals on his watch catch rays of morning peeking through.
Thumbs up to Ladytron for bringing their lights. The band’s music (dark beats, robotic voices, a certain coolness) tends to sway more into “dramatic electronic music” territory than “party anthem” territory and bringing your own lasers certainly help accentuate the songs. I’ve always imagined Ladytron to be a really dark night club with some black light and crazy goth chicks with leather apparel kind of bands and the lasers, smoke and epileptic inducing strobe lights for the show certainly helped set that vibe.
Use your evil, when you want
Despite the fact that this Ladytron show was booked to promote the most recent album Gravity The Seducer, it was the older tracks that had the crowd ate up. Runaway, Seventeen and the set ending Destroy Everything You Touch were the highlights you expected them to be. I forgot how much I love the song Destroy Everything You Touch until I heard it again live and realized I knew all the lyrics to the song. The songs from the new album, which seem to signify a slight change in the groups sound, came off quite nicely live, especially the tracks White Elephant, Ambulances and White Gold. I did miss the “muuuuuuuaaaaaaahhhhh muuuuuuaaaaaaahhhhh” backing vocals on the latter track though. That track has a wicked bass line.
All in all an enjoyable Ladytron show. I didn’t have the sound problems that Tom had at the show, so the sound did not bother me, aside from Mira’s microphone being too low. However, most of her songs weren’t played anyway, so it didn’t really matter. Ladytron’s an act to check out, their music is consistently good and their sound is completely unique.
Ladytron – Ambulances by nettwerkmusicgroup
Opening up for the group and playing a significantly shorter set than I expected was Brooklyn’s VHS or Beta. The disco funk group played a deep bass heavy half hour set that had me and the rest of the crowd moving. The group’s new album Diamond and Death is quite good and I’m hoping they return to play a proper tour. Craig Pfunder made the mistake of asking the crowd if they want to hear new or old material. Has any crowd ever asked for new material? I think not. Either way, the group’s sound has not changed much in the ten years or so they’ve been in existent so I guess you can’t really complain. Check them out if you have time. I kinda want them to play my house party.
VHS or Beta – I Found A Reason by Posh Magazine
