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 Photo: Justin Edwards
Prior to a capacity crowd lovin’, laughin’ and fightin’ to Cut Copy, New Zealand’s Shocking Pinks play to a sparse, largely disinterested audience. Signed to James Murphy’s DFA, the Pinks depart somewhat from the punky dance party that rages at the label, instead blending thick bass guitar and minimalist stabbing drums with echo-drenched shoegazing guitars and thin indie boy vocals. Heads do begin bobbing approvingly when they go into dark cowbell disco territory (with some truly subterranean electronic bass), but the kids ain’t here to think pink.
They’re not here to see The Juan MacLean either (who greets one tune’s complete lack of applause with “Er, that’s it, the song’s over”), but the US electronic muso starts to get feet moving with his live drums ‘n vocals-enhanced good time grooves – and if you hadn’t guessed already, the man tonight reveals his favourite dance sub-genre, with a red T-shirt that simply reads “House”. Another DFA artist, MacLean has the audience well and truly warmed up for Aussie electro-pop heroes.
Dan Whitford leads Cut Copy – who are officially huge pop stars in Australia now, with the ARIA number one album In Ghost Colours and a packed house shouting along to their sprightly synth-pop. The group have ironed out their live performance, providing a slick, seamless show, complete with dramatic lighting and crowd-inciting clapalongs. The jury’s still out on the reworked Future, but Time Stands Still, Hearts On Fire and Saturdays gleam with all the perfect retro-futurism you could hope for. Cut Copy prove consummate professionals, delivering a show that has the perfect balance of dancefloor-friendly beats and chiming indie-rock guitars. The good vibes mostly translate into the audience, but seemingly don’t spread everywhere, with a weird, violent undercurrent to the evening – a particularly vicious brawl breaks out in the foyer, and later in the evening, a man is escorted from the premises for dancing on a beam and swinging an electric fan around. The police and ambulance cars flashing outside as we emerge from the venue are surreally at odds with the uplifting music we’d all just enjoyed.
MATT THROWER
1. Written by Luke, on 25-06-2008 19:11 , IP: 58.106.51.91
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