Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Ladyhawke / Deluka / Death Ohh Eff / Electrilickers @ The Rainbow, Digbeth Monday 6th October 2008


Tonight made me feel young and old in equal measure. Old 'cos, like many 14+ gigs, there are, as you'd expect, people who are 14+ (no shit Sherlock). The young bit...well...a lot of the music tonight took me right back to the days of my youth...the 80's! The greatest decade for music ever ever ever etc. First up...and with a distinctly 80's name...The Electrilickers. Musically...well just check out Nous Sommes Allees a la Discoteque. 80's gold! I like ladies who sing in French and Miss Electrilicker got the balance between funky and aloof just right on this track. Think of them as the electropop Blood Red Shoes (yes...I enjoyed them that much) and you won't be too far off. In fact 'Sh sh sh shake' has a distinctly BRS vibe to it. I like mucho.

Next up Death Ohh Eff. Some nice vocal interplay between two of the band (one chappie starting off the line, the other one finishing...not easy to do...) and loadsa thrashy electro action. They have a French song too, Le Sur Mer...its good to know our pop kids are embracing the European Union eh? I look forward to a few songs in Flemish any day now. Once more a strong 80's vibe, 'Something About a Foetus' kind of reminded me of a twisted version of First Picture of You by The Lotus Eaters. But then I'm a bit odd.

Third on the bill were New Wavers, Deluka. I've been lucky enough to see them a few times now and they never fail to put on a cracking show. Lead singer Ellie has real charisma and some nice stage moves (the raised hand and t-shirt grabbing seem to be a bit of a trade mark). Sleep Is Impossible (echoes of Duran Duran's Girls On Film) has the kind of naggingly infectious chorus that lodges in your brain and wakes you at 3am in a cold sweat. So, there you go, aptly titled then eh? They played my favourite track Ike and Tina too - a solid gold classic that made my left leg twitch in a really dodgy manner. The raptuous applause at the end of the set (I've rarely heard such whooping in The Rainbow) shows just how much of a buzz they're creating.

Finally, the lady herself, Ladyhawke...or Pip as she is to her friends. Back in 1981 I had a real thing for Kim Wilde. Fast forward a mere 27 years (jeez....how did that happen?) to 2008 and I have a real thing for Ladyhawke. With 'From Dusk to Dawn', 'Paris Is Burning' and 'My Delerium' she has three of the catchiest, coolest tracks of the year and, tonight Matthew, she played all of 'em. It looked like the crowd were a mix of hardcore Ladyhawke fans and the casual observers attracted by the cool press she's been getting recently. I've read a few reviews (NME specifically...don't worry, I didn't pay for it, I just read it in Tesco's now...takes about 3 minutes on a good week) saying that they didn't real 'feel' the live show. Cobblers. There's up beat stuff here, but some of the songs are more low key. I thought she was fab. Maybe there's a little nervousness there but, given the sudden press, the expectations must be huge. That's some pressure.

So there we have it. It's official. The '80's are back. Hurrah! Just don't make me retake my Physics O level...

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