Do it like a Lady

Saturday, 7 November 2009

Ladyhawke concert

Enmore Theatre, 9:45 pm

Ladyhawke shows how it’s done

Ladyhawke glided into the Enmore Theatre, proving her vintage pop magic was more than smoke and mirrors – it really was her Delirium.

Opening with Magic and certainly sprinkling it over the crowd, the New Zealand songstress proved exactly why she dominated that year’s budget Grammy’s Logies. The stage was set alight with ultra violet-esque glow, a flashing epileptic fit-inducing microphone, and a dazzling looking bassist all which complemented the set list of Crazy World, Paris is Burning, and Manipulating Woman, making you feel on top of the world or flying as high as a kite. Yes, Ladyhawke certainly puts the “angel” in angel-dust.

Loving the bright lights and bling

And how it shouldn’t be

Speaking of angel dust, as with all my gig reviews, I must pass disparaging comments on the crowd even though I annoyingly ironically realise I am part of it. There is always a group that is there for more blow than show. Completely oblivious to the patrons [which I can let slide] but to the guest of honour? [I suppose we are paying them, so who is serving who really?] These girls’ reason for oblivion certainly proved their 40 kilo physiques weren’t just a fashion statement. They felt a bit heavier as they stomped all over my feet, but I would rather cop bruised toes than the cup of beer they dumped on some poor girl’s back. Deliberately. And unappreciatively ignored being told that this was out of line. Luckily the cup was plastic and not glass, otherwise our considerate neighbours would be guilty of killing something other than this poor girl’s good time.

Get on with it!

It was a relatively short set for the Ms Ladyhawke but she has enough hits to get the crowd singing to Back of the Van and Love Don’t Live Here. For her encores, she had to slip in covers to pad out the blanket of time. I thoroughly enjoyed her version of Split Enz’s Message to My Girl, always good to hear “local” music being played by a “local” [though was this a ploy to get us to finally concede the Finn brothers aren't Aussie, and NZ ≠ Oz.]

Element of expectation

I am not sure of my position of bands playing their most famous song until the encore. Kind of kills the anticipation. You know an encore is coming, but it’s nice to have a “could it be, could it not be” watch-checking “we’ve only got 5 minutes left of the gig!” moment in the dark with the sound guys teasingly flickering the ugly, last call lights to see which ye of little faith actually think the gig is over and gleefully think they have a head start on the bathroom queue only to have that “argh!” moment as they hear another song start up as they click the lock from “vacant” to “otherwise engaged in a self-kicking and idiotic self-realisation moment“.

I like having a less than easy-entry-into-mainstream-culture type song for an encore, so the:

• real fans can smugly brag they knew it was missing and be smugly glad it was played,
• mainstream pretend fans can be excited to pretend to be smug as they recap the gig to their friends, and
• band has a chance to plug their most latest single because, hey!, everyone loves encores since it reminds us of being 10 years old and thinking we cleverly tricked our parents into letting us stay up 5 minutes past our bedtime but its really so Mummy gets what she wants which is to finish her glass of wine before reading us a story.

- In short it doesn’t matter what song is played. All gig goers subconsciously think the encore is an extra part they don’t actually pay for and will love it regardless as long as they can vaguely sing the chorus – the last song is always the most memorable and therefore is the most wanted to buy/illegally download.

Final verdict

Who cares? If you have an Enmore-filled crowd singing along to your set’s encore of My Delirium, how can you expect your gig to be anything less than fantastic? Ladyhawke uses the crowd’s delirious chants as the wind beneath her wings, showing Macaroni Midler that there’s a new Divine Miss M in town – and that M stands for pure Magic.

Jack of all trades

Set list

Magic

Professional Suicide

Dusk Till Dawn

Manipulating Woman

Another Runaway

Crazy World

Oh My

Love Don’t Live Here

Danny & Jenny

Better Than Sunday

Back of the Van

Paris Is Burning Play

Encore:

Message To My Girl (Split Enz cover)

Free Money (Patti Smith cover)

My Delirium

Support:

The Swiss and special guest Connie Mitchell [from Sneaky Sound System].

Not so sneaky