ARTIST: Klaxons.
VENUE: Leeds University Refectory.
REVIEW BY: Tom Bailey.
IF 2007 belonged to any one band, that band must be Klaxons.
With one of the year’s biggest selling albums, sell-out tours, acclaimed festival appearances and capping it off with the 2007 Mercury Music Prize for best album, there’s no reason why this gig shouldn’t have been one huge party.
However, on arrival a ‘No glowsticks in the venue’ sign really did it’s best to kill the mood early on.
Fortunately, with the highly respectable Simian Mobile Disco supporting, things were soon back on course. Managing to separate the crowd into to the true ravers and the Indie pretenders, they put on a spectacular show, accompanied with synchronised lighting that would have been an epileptic’s worst nightmare.
Latest single ‘Hustler’ and album track ‘It’s The Beat’ provided the highlights to a simply glorious set.
After a good half-our wait, nu-rave pioneers Klaxons finally emerged and thankfully delivered a set worthy of the year’s worth of hype that has constantly surrounded them.
Clearly in high spirits – probably still from the shock of beating a certain Miss Winehouse to the Mercury Prize – they delivered exactly what was expected of them.
The entire debut album got an airing, much to the delight of one of the liveliest crowd’s I’ve seen for awhile, who lapped up everything from the pop brilliance of ‘Golden Skans’ to the eccentricity of closer ‘Four Horsemen of 2012’.
Although arguably the band have improved during the course of the year, delivering a much tighter performance than I was expecting, my only criticism is that in the space of the year the Klaxons have gone from being an edgy underground act to an acceptable mainstream band, who on the evidence of tonight’s crowd are suitable for just about anyone.
Perhaps I am being too harsh, but with the exception of ‘Magick’ and old rave classic ‘It’s Not Over Yet’ both of which were equally immense, the set lacked the bite and the extra oomph that originally made the band stand out from the rest.
A respectable outing regardless, just by no means as great as it could have been.
