Having announced that this headline run will be their last, Klaxons took to the stage in Brighton and sketched out a few possible reasons for their decision, along with a couple of clues as to why that crucial next step has eluded them since the release of ‘Myths Of The Near Future’.
Their set at the Concorde 2 was a capricious as ever, with moments of crowd-bouncing brilliance followed by incongruous additions to their original live sound. Frustratingly, this has been something that has followed the band as they’ve sought to broaden their horizons in the studio. They remain a truly enigmatic proposition, but they could have been world-beaters.
Klaxons’ debut, a Mercury winner back in 2007, seamlessly fused indie and electronica, shining a light on the future only for them to step into the shadows with the release of ‘Surfing The Void’.
The irony in all of this is the direction that the indie world has since headed in. Electronica started to seep in and lifted many bands into new commercial territory, but the Klaxons are almost nowhere to be seen.
If you caught their set at Reading this year, you would have come to the conclusion that they were back. It was one to remember, one that was almost nostalgic in the buzz it created. Seeing them on this tour explained so much more, though. At Reading, it was a greatest hits set, one tailored to appeal to the masses. At the Concorde 2, there was evidence of the ways in which that vision has been blurred.
With a near capacity crowd in one of Brighton’s best venues, the band waltzed on stage, dressed in white, to the strains of Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight. The bass was heavy as they flew into Atlantis To Interzone. Instantly, the crowd was alive. Why aren’t these guys huge?
And then, there was the answer. After every song that the crowd craved, there was a later cut that they didn’t engage with. The pattern quickly emerged: one classic, one pop experiment, and the atmosphere lurched from one extreme to another. The superb guitar riffs of old were shoved to one side, with every other song showcasing the clean-cut nature of their later work and demonstrating the loss of the dirt in their sound.
Klaxons’ recent sonic excursions have been backed by creative decisions all of their own and just why they took the path they did post-breakthrough is a question only they can answer. But, as good as some of their later material is, to see them live in 2014 is to spend some time with Jekyll and Hyde. It was, at times, like listening to two different bands competing with one another.
After Show Me A Miracle proved to be the biggest crossover - consisting of some extreme synths, breaks and drops that connoted the Klaxons many came to love - the encore was the inevitable It’s Not Over Yet, which duly went down a treat. And, with the band’s future shrouded in mystery, the message was double-edged.
Klaxons Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue November 04 2014 - LONDON O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
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