The best way to strip the magic and intimacy from a musical experience is to share it with a room full of aggro electronica fans.
It could have been that they weren't mad or bored... no, they were definitely mad, but their intermittent euphoria could have been mistaken for boredom (see photo #11). Of all the permutations -- crowd reflecting band's energy, crowd reflecting band's anger, crowd reflecting band's detachment, crowd reflecting the opposite of whatever the band is expressing, and on and on -- the fans perfectly reflected Ladytron's stoicism. This makes for a remarkably unmoving concert experience. The sound, however, was phenomenal. I only wish the environment were different since Ladytron hold the power to cloak a room in dramatic, foreboding darkness. The effect of this on the open-minded listener is a surge of fearful adrenaline -- the kind you feel vicariously for the protagonist during that pivotal no-turning-back scene. Ladytron is roller derby music -- it makes you want to glide around gracefully and then slam into something. It's the mind of a man committing a dirty crime in the name of love and then hightailing it to Mexico. Ladytron has the potential of transcendence -- just not on a Tuesday night at the Wonder Ballroom.
The show was part of Ladytron’s nationwide tour to promote their new album, Gravity the Seducer. Lead lady, Helen Marnie, demanded attention, if only due to her giant hair bow and arresting, prophetic vocals. Otherwise, she seemed anxious to "get this thing over with." The red strobe lights and an impressive array of vertical marquees kept everyone awake, though the spotlights that periodically blinded us worked counter to this.
After a balanced selection of tracks from Velocifero and Witching Hour, the band finished the encore with a forced-inspired “Destroy Everything You Touch,” and the dancing girls in front of me did a better job of delivering an impassioned performance than the band. If there was to be any musical intoxication, it was up to us to bring it ourselves. Ladytron was simply the disinterested bartender, doling out drinks to nattering patrons, offering nothing else in the way of personality. Maybe they're just scared of Americans.
The second opener was a Bay Area rock-electronica outfit called Geographer. Maybe they had a better day than Ladytron, but these boys put their hearts into whatever came out on stage. Three men lined up across the stage with electronic cello, drums, and buttons. The drummer, Brian Ostreicher, spends his non-drum-playing hours doing push-ups and bench-presses. I know this because his biceps were barely contained by a snug baby-blue polo. It was fantastic to have the drummer so close to the stage front -- all the movement and sound at such a proximity was refreshing. Why are drummers always in the back? Nobody dare say "Google it." The main man, Michael Deni, swirled his voice around the instrumentals, whipped his hair around, and incessantly pushed synth buttons and keys. The trio produced an impressively full sound considering they lacked a bassist. If iTunes or Pandora were to use their machine-genius powers of 'If you like this, you might also like this," they would probably suggest Holy Ghost! or Starfucker to fans of Geographer. It's that fabulous choir-boy vocals thing. But what iTunes and Pandora can't do, is pick up on subtlety. Geographer pulls in folk, pop, classical, and holds them all up with vocals that undulate from one great voice to another -- from Morrissey, to Thom Yorke, to Zach Condon. Keep an ear out for this band -- especially if you're looming around their village.
