Hot Chip
Live at O2 Academy Leeds on Tuesday, 16th February 2010
I was initially disappointed at being exiled upstairs at the o2 but Casiokids made up for it in part with an energetic percussive electro set. They kept moving around so much its hard to be sure but i'd say there was 6 of them, some stripy, some beardy but all surprisingly Norwegian as i would have put money on them coming from some painfully trendy north London ghetto. They finished with a great extended jam 'Fot i hose' all squelchy synth and disco drums including a breakdown when they all swapped instruments while managing to keep the groove going.
Hot Chip had an epic stage set with a nod to the ancient Greek imagery on their latest album cover and started promisingly with 'boy from school' one of the understated intelligent dance tracks that made them so popular. Sadly when the bass drum kicked in the subtlety and nuance that Hot Chip rely on went straight out the window leaving only the whomp whomp of any four to the floor dance set. Is it the acoustics upstairs at the o2? my arse certainly felt so after a few tracks and i couldn't go downstairs to check it out down there. The crowd seemed to be enjoying it anyway, even though Hot Chip couldn't exactly be said to whip the crowd into a frenzy with their on stage presence. 'One Life Stand' and 'Over and Over' are such good songs that they just about rose above the murky sound and Alexis Taylor was certainly entertaining when he did his embarrassing uncle at a wedding dance but sadly i was left feeling more old geek than ancient greek.