Leah hates sleep
Notes from the Cansei de ser Sexy/Ladytron show last night:
Ladytron’s closing their Toronto encore. The menacing strains of “Destroy Everything You Touch” blare while singer Helen Marnie glowers from the edge of the stage. But her ice-queen veneer is melting. Like the rest of the band, she’s been rooted to her spot all night, blank-faced and untouchable – the perfect poster-girl for nouveau kraut rock. But suddenly she’s attempting movement (an overhead hand-clap here and there) and cracking a half-smile.
Even the crowd is warming up. Most of the hour they’ve been politely nodding along to the Liverpool group’s dark disco tracks (the set-list covers a little bit of everything, from 2001 club hit “Seventeen,” to samplings like “Sugar” from their latest record, The Witching Hour). But now, they’re frenzied: crowd surfers toss overhead, dancers rush the railing.
All the adoration isn’t for Ladytron, no matter how powerful the song is. Hands clamber towards a pair of legs. They’re wrapped in leopard-print and rainbow spandex and kick above the crowd. Lovefoxxx, lead singer for Cansei de ser Sexy, is in the house, and she’s bringing it down.
Straight out of Sao Paulo Brazil, Cansei de ser Sexy (English translation: Tired of Sexy, a name they attribute to a Beyonce quote) is easily the most fun you’ll have at a Ladytron show. The five ladies and one gentleman of CSS are as equally brash as they are cutesy-pie, and their music reflects it. On disc, the sound is garage-style electro-pop, with plenty of high-hats, disco guitar riffs and even some early-Blondie-style girl rapping. But on stage, their songs (which rip on Paris Hilton and art-school snobs and give props to Death From Above) go from neutered pop to electro-punk.
Shouting “CSS Suxxx” the band leapt on stage. In seconds, lead singer Lovefoxxx was channeling Jane Fonda, bouncing like a rock-and-roll jazzercise instructor to the beat, and stripping through sweatshirts down to a t-shirt and leopard tights. If the disco pop didn’t get you shaking, Lovefoxxx was dedicated to getting the party started any other way she could. There was go-go dancing on the speakers (after the rather petite singer cautiously gauged whether she could make the leap), and a stage dive during “Meeting Paris Hilton.” It was too early, though, to make a proper go of it. “Ok, that didn’t work,” she admitted, but she wasn’t going to give up on the party. High fives, for all, instead. And later, a duet or three with the hardcore pockets of fans, screaming lyrics and love into the mic.
Within three seconds of Ladytron’s taking the stage, fear set in: was the fun over? The sound of a Ladytron show is astonishing: being washed over by brooding synthesizers (no less than eight), with the added crunch of live bass and drums. But the performance is too austere to be entertaining, even for a group that’s built a reputation for its nouveau Kraftwerk persona.
There’s no talk and no movement (outside of a few batted eyelashes and shoulder shakes). Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo perform like they’re robo-Abba, singing pretty (but dark) melodies side-by-side without movement or expression –that is, until somewhere near the end of the set between “Discotraxx” and “Playgirl.”
A pocket of dancing broke out during the middle of “Discotraxx,” eventually erupting into a mosh pit while Aroyo flatly speak-sang the song’s chilly Bulgarian monologue. Behind the writhing lunky guys in NIN tees were a few familiar faces—the ladies from CSS, laughing with beer bottles in hand. Mid-way through “Playgirl,” Marnie’s pulling a smile and staring into the crowd. It’s not hard to see why. Lovefoxxx is making her way to the front of the stage, lifted on the shoulders of a bandmate, pumping at the air and shouting until one of the security stooges gets her to simmer down.
She complies—for all of 30 seconds. Soon she’s rolling above the crowd, gaining a few surfing followers. Marnie’s performing harder, now, reaching out to the crowd from the edge of the stage. Eyes are on Lovefoxxx, though, who’s giggling as she’s passed throughout the Guvernment. The show was stolen, and she wasn’t even on stage. Clearly CSS makes electro-pop fun — even when it’s not their own.
Ladytron’s closing their Toronto encore. The menacing strains of “Destroy Everything You Touch” blare while singer Helen Marnie glowers from the edge of the stage. But her ice-queen veneer is melting. Like the rest of the band, she’s been rooted to her spot all night, blank-faced and untouchable – the perfect poster-girl for nouveau kraut rock. But suddenly she’s attempting movement (an overhead hand-clap here and there) and cracking a half-smile.
Even the crowd is warming up. Most of the hour they’ve been politely nodding along to the Liverpool group’s dark disco tracks (the set-list covers a little bit of everything, from 2001 club hit “Seventeen,” to samplings like “Sugar” from their latest record, The Witching Hour). But now, they’re frenzied: crowd surfers toss overhead, dancers rush the railing.
All the adoration isn’t for Ladytron, no matter how powerful the song is. Hands clamber towards a pair of legs. They’re wrapped in leopard-print and rainbow spandex and kick above the crowd. Lovefoxxx, lead singer for Cansei de ser Sexy, is in the house, and she’s bringing it down.
Straight out of Sao Paulo Brazil, Cansei de ser Sexy (English translation: Tired of Sexy, a name they attribute to a Beyonce quote) is easily the most fun you’ll have at a Ladytron show. The five ladies and one gentleman of CSS are as equally brash as they are cutesy-pie, and their music reflects it. On disc, the sound is garage-style electro-pop, with plenty of high-hats, disco guitar riffs and even some early-Blondie-style girl rapping. But on stage, their songs (which rip on Paris Hilton and art-school snobs and give props to Death From Above) go from neutered pop to electro-punk.
Shouting “CSS Suxxx” the band leapt on stage. In seconds, lead singer Lovefoxxx was channeling Jane Fonda, bouncing like a rock-and-roll jazzercise instructor to the beat, and stripping through sweatshirts down to a t-shirt and leopard tights. If the disco pop didn’t get you shaking, Lovefoxxx was dedicated to getting the party started any other way she could. There was go-go dancing on the speakers (after the rather petite singer cautiously gauged whether she could make the leap), and a stage dive during “Meeting Paris Hilton.” It was too early, though, to make a proper go of it. “Ok, that didn’t work,” she admitted, but she wasn’t going to give up on the party. High fives, for all, instead. And later, a duet or three with the hardcore pockets of fans, screaming lyrics and love into the mic.
Within three seconds of Ladytron’s taking the stage, fear set in: was the fun over? The sound of a Ladytron show is astonishing: being washed over by brooding synthesizers (no less than eight), with the added crunch of live bass and drums. But the performance is too austere to be entertaining, even for a group that’s built a reputation for its nouveau Kraftwerk persona.
There’s no talk and no movement (outside of a few batted eyelashes and shoulder shakes). Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo perform like they’re robo-Abba, singing pretty (but dark) melodies side-by-side without movement or expression –that is, until somewhere near the end of the set between “Discotraxx” and “Playgirl.”
A pocket of dancing broke out during the middle of “Discotraxx,” eventually erupting into a mosh pit while Aroyo flatly speak-sang the song’s chilly Bulgarian monologue. Behind the writhing lunky guys in NIN tees were a few familiar faces—the ladies from CSS, laughing with beer bottles in hand. Mid-way through “Playgirl,” Marnie’s pulling a smile and staring into the crowd. It’s not hard to see why. Lovefoxxx is making her way to the front of the stage, lifted on the shoulders of a bandmate, pumping at the air and shouting until one of the security stooges gets her to simmer down.
She complies—for all of 30 seconds. Soon she’s rolling above the crowd, gaining a few surfing followers. Marnie’s performing harder, now, reaching out to the crowd from the edge of the stage. Eyes are on Lovefoxxx, though, who’s giggling as she’s passed throughout the Guvernment. The show was stolen, and she wasn’t even on stage. Clearly CSS makes electro-pop fun — even when it’s not their own.
posted by Ladysir | 1:09 PM
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