Someone told me this show would be boring as hell. That was on second-hand information, but I was inclined to possibly believe him anyhow, since I'd seen a DJ set by one of the Ladytron-ers before (which is what the above photo is from) and was, indeed, bored as hell. But that was a DJ set afterall, and very few DJs are particularly exciting to watch. That's not really the point. However, Ladytron is a very electric band, and the thought that their live show may not differ much from their albums seemed a distinct possibility. Also, being sort of semi-electroclash, the euro-cool Bauhaus (I mean the art style, not the goth band) schtick where the people on stage only move in a very controlled and robotic manner, was easy to imagine. And indeed, that's more or less what it was. But did that make it boring? Actually, no. You might almost consider it Chuck E. Cheese for adults. The robotic muppet-y 'live' music show at the kids playground/restaurant was always the same, but you always were absolutely delighted by it, weren't you? The critters barely moved, but just them being there was mesmerizing and commanding. So it was here.

From where I was standing, I couldn't see an awful lot of the band itself anyhow, just enough to know the most movement coming out of them was the occasional controlled, fluid over-head arm swing from the girls. Severe haircuts, severe make-up, severe voices - I only am familiar with the songs they played from the "604" album, and there were only I think three of those. Those ones did sound barely different from the album, so I can only assume that the rest of the show wasn't much of a departure from the recordings either. But the point is... it didn't matter. What happened is that the beats, the solid dancey beats, thudded forth loudly, overtaking everything. I was swept up, like the rest of the crowd, in a wave of manic dancing. On stage, the things that held most interest where the red-and-white vicious lights - bright spotlights, light-up netting - and the large background screen playing Windows Media Player Synaethesia type mathy-math graphics that chugged and pulsed along in time to the music. it became a brain-hazing experience, a full mental environment. Your feet seemed disconnected to your body, unable to control. Everyone around you was moving nearly as a unit. It was wild, hot, sweaty, and not boring at all.

I could see, if i were standing alone in a room with the house lights on and the band just playing, yeah, it would probably be boring. But everything together like this? Complete? Absolutely not boring.

Opening, I must mention, was CSS. It stands for something besides 'cascading style sheets' in this case. "Cansei De Ser Sexy" apparently, which means "I got tired of being sexy." Already they're cute. Cute indeed. Who writes lyrics like "Let's make love and listen to Death From Above?" Hipster to the max, these cats (mostly girls) are from Brazil. Brazil! Who knew they had contemporary bands in Brazil, for goodness' sake! They've had tons of weird press and accolades apparently, but this was the first I'd heard of them. And they were on fire! SO amusing. Adorably racy singer Lovefoxxx looked breathless and vicious while also managing to be completely campy the whole time, in a black and white striped shorts-suit, doing mock-Macarenas dances and scissor kicks without cracking the remotest of smiles. She crowdsurfed around the audience a couple of times, jumped lots, and never wavered in her Brazilian-accented singing despite all this. She even got some folks in the crowd singing along. Oh, and they were jumping too. They were excellent at winding up the audience in a big big way. Ai ai!

Elsewhere

By Andy Scheffler
Photos : Ladytron.com
Published : January, 2007.