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It's not often that a venue is full for a support act, but Brixton Academy was
packed for The Raveonettes. Which suggests that the much-hyped Danish duo
are due a hit with their album, Chain Gang of Love, released this
week. On the strength of their live show, they deserve it.
The Raveonettes are often criticised for sounding like The Jesus & Mary
Chain, but their new songs threw in enough other influences — from 1960s
girl groups to Blondie — to prove that they are much more than carbon
copyists.
Their trump card is peroxide-blonde singer Sharin Foo, who looked like
Courtney Love in sexy, secretary gear — sensible, short-sleeved,
knee-length, black dress and spiky high heels. Her co-singer and guitarist
Sune Rose Wagner looked pretty good too, but all eyes were on Foo, not least
when she chatted to the crowd in perfect English.
Admittedly, some of the slower, feedback-soaked songs were a touch tuneless,
but they were short enough to do minimal damage. And when the group raced
through faster, catchier tracks, they were an impressive blend of edgy pop
and rock’n’roll. So, not all hype and no substance.
Beck hasn’t been the subject of overwhelming hype for a few years now. Yes,
he’s still frequently described as the new Prince or David Bowie, but the
lack of hits on his recent albums means that he’s no longer a hip name to
drop. Mind you, that might change on the back of this latest jaunt around
the UK. He played the quirky superstar to perfection from the moment he
appeared with a four-piece, male backing band in skinny, black suits, who
looked like models pretending to be members of Kraftwerk.
The show began with Beck and his keyboard player shooting each other with
laser boxes and doing a strange Saturday Night Fever-meets-Stars
Wars dance to a grungy guitar number. During New Pollution, Beck
slid across the floor in a Michael Jackson-style routine. Later, he wheeled
out a mobile keyboard and played it standing on an amp and jumped two feet
in the air playing a tambourine.
Even more impressive than his moves was how he skipped from one musical style
to another. There was downbeat folk and country, bluegrass, Aerosmith-style
stadium rock, funky psychedelic stuff and a boogie-woogie piano track that
could easily have been early Elton John. He played umpteen instruments —
including what looked like an accordion on a stand, which he pumped from the
front — and his voice was incredibly versatile. He’s no longer the new kid
on the block — in fact, for the first time, he looked more like a man than a
boy — but Beck’s not about to disappear quietly.
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