August 3, 2010

• La Roux @ Club Nokia Los Angeles – July 15, 2010

  Finally, La Roux Day!!!  The last time La Roux was in LA at the El Rey back in October 2009, she was sick and performed a shortened five song set so that we wouldn’t go home disappointed with a $20 ticket refund.  She did her songs right, but man, I was looking forward to hearing it all.  I was lickin’ my chops for this show… the electric Club Nokia, the whole nation now on the bandwagon after Bulletproof finally hit the US airwaves, one of the few new acts of the past year or two that’s been absorbable…

  Elly Jackson came out in her Draconian cape, tearing that off after the first song…

  

  

  

  Everyone is stoked and then she drops Hiroshima revisited… “I’m sorry everyone that my voice isn’t well today, but we’re going to make the best of it and give it a go…”  Anyhow, that’s not exactly what she said, but it was something to that effect.  I’m there thinking, “Damn, girl must have a weak voice or body, this again?”  Thank God she performed a full set, which last about 65 minutes.   Not so good for the rest of North America.  She canceled the rest of her tour as her laryngitis turned to pharyngitis.  

  I looked at the schedule and saw that Washington DC got screwed AGAIN.  In February the blizzard stopped them from going, then rescheduled to end of July, and now they’ve been rescheduled to November.  Sucks to be you DC.  

  

  There are a myriad of contributing factors, but one might be that Elly’s voice doesn’t exhibit immense strength and maybe isn’t build for the daily grind of blowing it out every night.  I’m not capping on her voice, I think her voice fits her songs.  I couldn’t stop myself from dancing to every song.  It’s just that her songs might be a grind to sing every night since they are high voiced dance songs, not singing in the classical sense.   

  

  I realize I sound very critical of the performance, but the reality is is that I loved every minute of the show and can’t wait to party with her again.  If you like that type of dance music, then you have to get the CD.  Half the songs are hit worthy, and there are only a couple of tracks that are marginal.   There’s more than just “Bulletproof” (which she closed with).  “In For the Kill“, “I’m Not Your Toy“, “Tigerlilly” and “Quicksand” are just as good to me. 

  

  After the show, I my phroat was dry so I stopped by the Ralphs in Downtown LA to get a Coke.  Next to me in the checkout line, purchasing vats of orange juice and unpopped popcorn was Ilan Hall, season two winner of Top Chef.  I didn’t recognize him, but my friend thought she did.  Me being fearless me, I asked and he invited us to come to his restaurant, Gorbals. 

  • Me: What is it, New American? 
  • Ilan:  No, Scottish Jewish Progressive! 

  There’s a new Yelp category for you (unfortunately for Ilan,Yelp has them lumped in with New American restaurants).  In LA, you can’t even go to a grocery store at 11:15 p.m. and not run into a minor celebrity.   

  La Roux @ the El Rey – October 19, 2009 

  

  I was going to link you up to my Xanga entry on La Roux’s October 2009 performance, but I couldn’t find it because I never did a review!  Here are my long lost pictures from the night.  For this show, I was two rows from the stage, so I got some great shots.  One thing you’ll notice is that the stage background is pretty empty!  Compare those with the pictures above and you’ll see how their stage setup has become more elaborate with their increased success. 

  

  

  

  

  

  • 1:00 pm
  • 1 Comment