CX Media Kit
| Ladyhawke - Live |
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| Written by Julius Grafton | |
| Sunday, 08 November 2009 | |
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So here we are at 9.45pm and the Lady is on stage. Just before, a stage tech came out and plugged in the fairy lights on her mic stand. Even before that the lightie decided to vibe the crowd by flashing some looks - turquiose gobos fanning down onto the crowd, blinders, and oh so irritating - LED strips on vertical trusses across the cyk. But now the four guys in black fronted by the demure and slightly daggy kiwi are away.
We are in the front GA area, slightly off centre and as far back as the second crowd barrier allows. The excellent GEO-D Nexo P.A. at the Enmore Theatre is known to us, so midway through the first song it is obviously too loud. But it's the muddy middy mix that prevails, with walls of effects and reverb trying to emulate the very identifiable sounds that have make Ladyhawke a major charting act around the world. "Is the keybopard player wearing a mask?" Karen asked me, and we both squint and strain to try to make out facial features inside a halo of black helmet hair. Unable to see the facial features of anyone on stage bar the Lady, I thank the lord that there are two followspots in use, and that they are sometimes on the star. As the set progresses through at least one false start, the band and the star impress with prowess but the lights irritate greatly. All the looks are blown by the second number, and alternating clouds of smoke and LED punches render the mood gloomy. Quick, squint - here comes a LED bar flash. Ouch. Pip Brown is clearly a musical prodigy but most live reviews (read after I saw the show and wrote this) focus on her lack of charisma and nervous nature. 'Owning' a stage and putting on a show are things that come with time, and would be much more forgivable if tech crew were kept on a tight reign and stuck to the golden principle of live music:
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