Leicester, De Montford Hall 14 May 2003
They appeared on stage to a warm reception amid
the Victorian spleandour of Erasure's stage set, dressed
as if they had teleported directly from a WW2 RAF squadron, positioning
themselves behind two identical podiums only two foot apart: him
on the left, her on the right, both smiling effervescently. 'A
quick tune-up,' he says, a few key presses, and then it begine.
What ushers forth is some of the most inventive electronic music
I have ever heard, sequencing driving arpeggiated basslines, smooth
melodies and simple but effective drum machines. But whereas electronic
proficiency sometimes leads to a drop off in vocal talents, both
Angie and Adrian Vic Twenty can sing and harmonise live in
a way that puts Phil Oakey and his exceptionally flat backing singers
to shame. It became quite apparent, despite the simplicity and naievety
of their lyrics, that this duo are highly accomplished musicians
and singers.
They successfully combined Mini-Moog synths with
forgotten retro 'toy' instruments - I have never seen an act use
a Casio VLTONE VL-1 keyboard (with built-in calculator!) in any
shape or form before, and I don't think I'll ever hear another act
utter the words 'This song features our Casio friend,' referring
to this pocket keyboard employed on '8-bit Hit', in such a reverential
context again.
What we get are songs about the good old days of
8-bit computing ('8-bit Hit'), a critique of modern dance music
('Ibiza Mon Amour') right through to songs about persuing a loved
one from the ends of the earth to Finland - Pan Sonic do
Nokia pop? - on 'Hell To Helsinki'. Their new single, 'Txt Msg',
manages to set the annoying bleeps we have to contend with in our
modern lives with the most contemporary method of breaking up with
someone - 'The favourite way to end it all is by mobile phone...'
they sing, introducing the song with randomised key presses on two
handsets. Twenty years ago, a song like 'I Kissed A Girl' would
have garnered shock value, with its tale of girl-on-girl embraces,
especially sung by - no! - a woman, but in this liberal age, Angie
Vic Twenty's suggestive, arched-eyebrow singing shows a childishness
that is both amusing as it tries to be taken seriously.
However, Vic Twenty also have a darker side as well.
The song 'Kiss You', one of the highlights, is incredibly bleak
despite the lyrics explaining how excited the prospect of kissing
someone is, all set to a ferocious electronic canvas that in more
ways than one recalls Depeche Mode's excellent 'Just Can't
Get Enough'. Elsewhere 'Monsanto', perhaps a protest song against
one of the world's largest chemical manufacturers, manages to bring
a sense of anti-capitalism to the occasion, with General Motors
also figuring in the equation. 'Me Machine I' is perhaps the closest
to Kraftwerk's machine-human romantic interface, but only lyrically,
since Vic Twenty's synthetic pallette is far more interesting than
anything those sour-faced Germans put together.
What's intriguing is that, despite one occasion
when Angie steps out from behind the podium and straps on a child's
guitar-style keyboard to play dirty chords, the duo - for all the
high-energy and intensely danceable music they produce - hardly
move. But that's not to say they're not enjoying it - they both
look across at each other frequently, smiling, moving their heads
from side to side in time with each other and the crisp percussion
rhythms. Unlike some electronic duos I've seen live, the mood is
a far cry from the 'head down, get on with it' introspectiveness.
Their set is frustratingly short, lasting a mere
35 minutes, but in that time they manage to fit in at least 12 songs
of incredibly high quality. 'I like that one,' says someone
from the crowd after '8-bit Hit', raising a smile from Adrian Vic
Twenty - it is clear that the crowd, despite being ardent fans of
one of the most successful electronic pop duos of the 80s, don't
really know what to make of this new kid on the block. The biggest
cheer they got was when Angie, in her American drawl said 'A
couple more and then you get to see Erasure!'
For me, loving most things electronic and all things
Mute, Vic Twenty represented the best warm up act I have
seen in my whole history of concert-going.
|
