Ladytron

So electro. So chic. So boring. Ladytron may have been something amazing ten years ago but my lord are they boring now. I’m yet to figure out if their complete lack of stage presence is due to boredom or if they were always like that. Maybe fifteen years ago when they were undergorund and at the forefront of the electro music frontier their laid back (comatose) stage persona was seen as ‘arty’ and ‘edgy’ but it just doesn’t cut it anymore. They come across as a poor man's The Knife. I may sound brutal here. Yes, this is a band that spawned a revival in a much loved musical genre. Yes they were cutting edge. No longer, though.

Pop Levi (former Ladytron man) made the right call in bailing if you ask this reviewer. His catchy and musically accomplished brand of electro pop, whilst alltogether different, blows Ladytron out of the water. However, I digress…The band sauntered out after a lackluster opening set from an act whom I care not to remember. Opening acts should be chosen with more care is all I’ll say about said openers.

They launched into a set that included a few of their more popular songs from the past but the fact that they closed with their most recent hit Seventeen speaks volumes of where this band is at right now. I almost left halfway through the set it was so drab. The makeup of the crowd provides an interesting insight into the relevance and appeal of Ladytron right now. Of all the people in the HiFi bar in Melbourne, three quarters were thirty and over and the other quarter were under twenty.

The oldies (we’ll call them that for the sake of both humour and candour) cheered the end of every song. The ‘kids’ (see above) made not a sound until Seventeen came on when they went crazy. It amazes me that people spend sixty of their hard earned dollars to hear one song they enjoy. Is everyone rich these days? I thought we were in a recession? So, basically, it was as if a prominent relevant exciting band from today was playing in fiteen years time when they had lost their shine.

The people who enjoyed are the ones to whom Ladytron is the soundtrack of their lives. The rest have too much money and wanted to take some pills and dance to that song they heard once. Again, I know I’m being harsh but you simply cannot expect an objective party to enjoy such a boring, lackluster performance. I was momentarily sidetracked by the beauty of one of the lead singers but then the boredom snatched me back in like a hungry shark and shook me back into objectivity.

In finishing, please don’t let this reviewer's harsh take on a fading star influence your views. If you’re the kind of person who lets a review sway you one way or the other when buying tickets, then you are a fool and I care not for your opinion. Ladytron’s records are great. Not amazing, but great. They are well worth a listen. If you listen and enjoy, go see. If not, make your own mind up. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard disparaging comments about their live show though, so perhaps I’m onto something here.

Anyhow, they’ll probably be back again in six months to capitalise on some other candy-coated teeny-bopper single that in no way reflects their earlier work and importance. So go see them for yourself.

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