I came a little late on Monday night to the O2, or the Carling Academy, or to whatever it's now called - I still remember it in my heart as the Roxy Nightclub, where the drinks were cheap and the entertainment even cheaper - so I missed all but the end of the warm-up gig and frankly, I'm glad I did. The crowd seemed to be enjoying the screeching sonar range of the vocalist, including a long section of 'sing-along-in-the-crowd' but I'm afraid it didn't hit the note for me - although the band sounded pretty good when she wasn't singing. I didn't even take the time to find out what they were called so they shall just be 'band' - indistinguishable unregistered.
That over and done with, quick smoke, quick pee, grab a drink and then I did a little bit of crowd weaving and got both myself and my midget friend right up to the barrier at the right hand side - she's hoping for a late growth spurt but I suspect that at her age (34) this is decidedly unlikely. The band teased us with a very very long start - more than a good half an hour spent waiting, getting steadily a little hotter and the crowd slowly swelling - a rather sweaty boy seemed to have decided that my face would be a good place to park his hair and strangely didn't respond to my ever inching out elbow. Weird.
Finally, the lights went down after multiple tweaks from the roadies and the scream from the crowd began as Runaway worked it's way into life, Karen O grinning like a loon as she came onstage, a smile that didn't diminish throughout the whole set - she was clearly loving it. 'All right Sheffield' was the first intro as she then put her energy into the song, quickly breaking into a sweat and throwing herself around the stage, stopping now and then to watch her microphone, which she waved around as though it was hypnotising. The crowd mesmerised by every move of her technicoloured body - especially when she came out for Heads Will Roll, with what can only be described as pink gimp mask, decorated with a swirly neon cable.
Costume was clearly important, with the leather Jacket in the video for Zero making an entrance as well as a very strange toweling outfit, which was draped over her head during Skeletons - singing through it for the main part of the song, until she whipped it back as the song peaked.
It was a set full of energy and power, real emotion and strength - she reacted perfectly to the crowd's mood, playing up to them, posing now and then to let people take photos, ramping up the rock in the bigger songs, the grin never wavering, her enthuisasm and pure joy transmitting to us as clearly as the sound from the speakers. I loved it loved it loved it - and despite the surly bouncers standing right in front of me ignored them and threw myself into singing along throughout, happy to just be part of what was an excellent show.
Set List:
Runaway
Dull Life
Rockers To Swallow
Down Boy
Black Tongue
Pin
Zero
Turn Into
Skeletons
Soft Shock
Gold Lion
Cheated Hearts
Heads Will Roll
Encore:
Y Control
Maps
Date with the Night
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