Just one day after seeing Editors, I was back at Circuit in Kingston for another album release gig, this time for La Roux, probably best known for her early single "Bulletproof".
I'd followed Ellie (her real name) through another two albums and seen her colaborate (albeit briefly) with New Order at Brixton and liked what I heard, so it was an easy decision to cough up less than £20 for her 4th album and this gig.
I'd heard one or two track from the new album, which had her familar 80-ish electro sound, so I hoped I'd enjoy the album and the evening.
It was an early start (on stage at 7:30, due to a Tinnie Tempa gig following it - I passed on the 50% discount for that...) and the venue looked fairly empty when I arrived about 7:00, but it filled up pretty quickly.
I have to admit, I made a couple of mistakes at this gig. First was not to put my coat in the cloakroom (it was too heavy to carry throughout really) and the second was find a spot near the middle of the floor area, a few rows back from the front.
Two men came on first and took up places behind keyboards and then Ellie followed them onto the stage.
Immediately, it was clear that where I was I could barely hear her vocals. At one brief point I could actually hear her unamplified voice, but the sound overall was dominated by the music and what sounded like a backing vocal track.
After a while I got frustrated with this and headed further back, hoping to find somewhere where I could hear the vocals, but as it had filled up, I ended up with a limited view, behind the sound desk.
I mentioned the sound issue to one of the men on the desk, but the one actually controlling the balance just shrugged when the problem was pointed out to him. I have been to Circuit a few times and stood where I was, but never experienced this issue before.
At least, up here I could hear the vocals, which I assume were only being directed through the two huge stacks of speakers either side of the stage.
The set started with a track from the last album, "Automatic Driver", which I don't recall a lot about as I was trying to work out what was wrong with the sound.
I was more familiar with "Tropical Chancer" from her second album, but the sound was still frustrating my enjoyment of the performance.
I did recognise "Babyline" as one of the previously released tracks from the new album, "Old Flames" and the one, at first listening, that I'd liked the best.
This was followed up "Cruel Sexuality" and "Sexotheque", two familiar tracks from earlier albums.
Ellie didnt engage with the crowd much, but did pause here to say how glad she was that people were here, sticking with her through 'difficult times' (she later commented how good it was to see people singing along after doing lots of support gigs where nobody knew her or the materials) and she definitely looked as though she was enjoying performing in front of an audience who were clearly on her side.
A couple of track from the new album followed "Cabin Fever" (this is when I moved) and "Night Vision", before one of her biggest hits, "In For The Kill".
As the set drew to a close, the familiar opening bars of "Bulletproof" (listed as "Discoproof" on the setlist for some reason) started and the audience roared their approval. If it wasn't for the fact that we were all already standing, it would have received a standing ovation at the end.
Ellie gave us a few more words of thanks and introduced the title track from "Old Flames" before the gig drew to a close.
There is no doubt that the sound issues spoilt my enjoyment of this gig, but it would be unfair to say that I didn't enjoy it all.
Once I'd moved, albeit to places where I got a limited view, the sound was far better and that saved what could have been a terrible gig.
I've only just received the new album (part of the deal is you pay for a CD and the gig), so haven't had a chance to play it yet, but the few tracks I have heard sound pretty good at one listening, so hopefully she will continue to make music; there's certainly a hardcore of fans for more!
Setlist:
Automatic Driver
Tropical Chancer
Babyline
Cruel Sexuality
Sexotheque
Cabin Fever
Night Vision
In for the Kill
Lose Myself
Discoproof (Chromeo cover)
Old Flames
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