Ladyhawke LIVE

Day two, and could the delightful New Zealander Pip Brown follow Girls Aloud? Well of course she could. Her album was on of 2008’s best and if the concert didn’t quite match up to the brilliance of the record (due in part, no doubt, to my usual gripe of an “electro” band feeling the need to ramp up their sound during a live gig) it got close enough to make this a very good night’s entertainment indeed.

Her appearance on FM (shit show I know, but I had to at least watch the one with her on it) showed that she had a sense of fun/humour (yes, which was something that was somewhat missing from the show itself in general), something that doesn’t always come across in the live performance of hers I’ve seen on TV. Tonight though, she seemed relaxed and comfortable with the crowd, even at one point admitting that she “didn’t usually talk” as much but felt the need to do so.

The concert was basically a run through of the album, with a couple of B-sides tossed in for fun, but you can’t expect much more from a debut artist. At least she resisted the temptation to throw in some pointless cover versions. The “big” singles such as Paris Is Burning and My Delirium were the crowd favourites but most tracks were welcomed and everybody seemed to be having a great time. Especially the two girls next to me who spent half the night kissing each other. I wouldn’t have noticed, only Dave kept pointing it out….

Perhaps even more so “live” than on record, people who would unkindly say that Ladyhawke offers up precious little that is “new” in terms of her sound would find a lot to back up their opinion. But I say what does it matter? Perfectly crafted pop songs, which rarely veer into mere pastiche, are more than enough for me, regardless of what “era” they hark back to. And whisper it quietly, but I may have enjoyed this a little more than I enjoyed the previous night’s festivities…