Goldfrapp@Ancienne Belgique, 23 november 2010
Good afternoon, kids!
While I’m eating (or is it drinking? I am always confused about this) my lunchtime soup, I remembered I hadn’t had written a review of Goldfrapp’s concert in Brussels a couple of weeks back.
I doubt it has anything to do with the soup (which is really nice actually), but the ways my mind work have yet to be discovered and examined by modern medicine.
I’d been looking forward to Goldfrapp’s only second venue show, and yes, that in their 10year long carreer. Brussels’ Ancienne Belgique filled up quickly with the gayest of the gay, as some of the things I’ve seen, heard, and unfortunately involuntarily felt there are undoubted signs of the bands status as the Gayest Band in Town.
Or atleast for that cold wintery night in tiny Belgium.
It might have to do something with the music of course, as the band’s latest venture into musicmaking took them quite a long way down memory lane, into the wrong (and maybe better kept hidden) 80s disco tracks!
Now, no irony or elitism, here. Even though it took me a while to get used to it, Head First is a quite alright record.
Let’s call it a guilty pleasure.
After their passage through Pukkelpop, I was hoping for a bit of a change in set, costumes and general feel, afterall that’s what makes a venue gig different from a festival gig.
Unfortunately, not so much differed from the bands machine-like performance I witnessed there.
It seems as if they’re too used to playing, have been playing too long, and generally regard playing live as a ‘job’ rather than a priviledge.
That’s not to say the sound wasn’t perfect, the songs danceable, and Alison’s singing one of the better times I’ve witnessed.
Seeing Lovely Head live for the first time in the almost 6 years I’ve been following them was of course a delight, and made up for a lot of the routine-feel.
A bit of a shame, as I’ve seen them in much better shape.
Maybe next time.
