Ladytron — Shepherds Bush Empire
I’ve seen Ladytron once before, about four or five years ago at the GUU and it was one of my most disappointing gigs. Terrible performance, restless crowd and a fire alarm going off midway through their set that dumped us all outside in the rain.
The reason I’ve given them another chance was that after years of promise they’ve finally delivered an album that proved they were capable of more than just the occasional decent song. The album, Velocifero, may not be perfect but it’s one of the best from what’s been a disappointing year for music.
Support was from the fantastic shoegaze/pop band Asobi Seksu, whose album Citrus I’ve been enjoying for what seems like forever. Thanks to the London trains running behind we only caught their closing song, but it made a big impression with loads of chaotic noise. It gave some extra life and kick to music that can occasionally sound lightweight and I’ll definitely be going to see a full gig by them when I get the chance.
Ladytron came on about half an hour later and things didn’t start well with the vocals being so low in the mix that they were – unintentionally – unintelligble. This carried on for the first three or four songs until someone finally realised and brought the drums down to a reasonable level. Unfortunately it was too little too late and from where I was standing the band had already lost the crowd.
That’s not to say there weren’t any highlights, but they were few and far between. Old favourite Seventeen was good and a few of the newer songs towards the end of their set were also decent, but it wasn’t enough to salvage what on reflection was a pretty awful gig.
