The so-called ‘new rave’ pioneers announced the arrival of their third album ‘Love Frequency’ with a few intimate gigs. I’ve never been too fussed about them and to be honest, I didn’t really think they would be a good live band. Oh how I was wrong…
Klaxons are a band I’ve had trouble with since they invaded the airwaves with their electro indie sound through infectious single ‘Golden Skans’ in 2007. Their music was catchy, loud and slightly thrashy, but to me, I just didn’t find the band likeable. They apparently turned down an opportunity to support Muse at Wembley Stadium because “we don’t do support slots” and I just got the impression that they felt that they were bigger than they were, and had a sense of arrogance about them.
Last night changed that impression. Dramatically.
Donning shiny metallic-looking suits, the three-piece band, along with their touring drummer, bounced onto the stage at the small club Oslo, in the heart of Hackney. From the start, Jamie Reynolds (vocals, bass) and James Righton (vocals, keyboard) looked genuinely thrilled to be on stage, whereas guitarist Simon Taylor-Davis had an air of cool about him, hardly smiling and focusing his energy on the music. The “DJ!” vocal sample of ‘Atlantis to Interzone’ fired through the room like a gunshot as the band broke into the keyboard sample-heavy song, bringing back memories of high school when I would mess around on a keyboard in its DJ mode. It was awesome.
Klaxons’ set was focused mainly on their upcoming album, including songs like new single ‘There Is No Other Time’, ‘Children of the Sun’ and ‘New Reality’. The feel of the new songs seemed cleaner and more produced than their previous material. It reminded me of 90s acid house music. The new songs were received warmly by the crowd but obviously did not have as much of an impact as songs from their debut album ‘Myths of the Near Future’ such as ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’, ‘Golden Skans’ and the mosh-pit inducing ‘Magick’ (which by the end of this song, I was absolutely drenched in sweat).
Clearly, the band wanted to live up to the “rave” aspect of the genre that is associated with them – both Righton and Reynolds encouraged the crowd to dance and put their hands in the air, and the flickering lights added to the euphoric experience. For most of the gig, I couldn’t stop dancing and I was pleasantly surprised that they would be this good live.
The band put on a fun and entertaining performance, despite some of the new songs falling a bit flat compared to their upbeat and wild old songs. Reynolds could not stop thanking the crowd and the band all seemed to have a friendly and energetic attitude about them. Klaxons are back – maybe they have matured a bit, but the excitement hasn’t stopped.