Polly Scattergood/Parralox/Daniel Robinson
Road Trip Bar, London - 7 February 2014
"A
quirky and off the wall performance"
This tiny venue near Old
Street was host to an evening of interesting music (courtesy of EQ
Music Live), unfortunately work meant I could not get to the venue in
time to see the first two acts, but I was in time to see Daniel
Robinson, who looked like a Hipster Justin Bieber
and whose
music was well crafted and very danceable, but its hard for me to
comment as it was not my kind of music, but those around me seemed to
enjoy it. 5/10
Photos: Parralox
Next up were Parralox – which boded well from the start as they had a Sequential Circuits Pro-One synthesizer on stage. The band arrived on stage all dressed in black and looking very Gothic, so I was expecting something dark and gloomy. I was happily surprised that what I heard was excellent synthpop and the vocals, from new vocalist Johanna, were excellent. To be honest, the music was very europop/nu-disco and none the worse for that. Towards the end of the set they were joined on stage by Francine, who had performed earlier in the evening, and this changed the style and sound of the group, but I think I preferred Johanna’s vocals. I have to say I very much enjoyed the performance. 7/10
Setlist: Eye In The Sky, Black Jeans, Hotter, Sharper Than A Knife, Electric Nights, Don't Listen To Me, Crying On The Dancefloor
Photos: Polly Scattergood
Finally we come to the headline (Mute Records) act Polly Scattergood, and I have to say she gave a fantastic performance - despite claiming concerns for her voice, requiring her to take a bottle of brandy on stage. Set-wise she performed most of the tracks from her new album Arrows but presented it with the quirkiness and slightly off the wall performance that I would expect from her. Musically the sounds and mix were spot on and she managed to totally engage her audience. For me a true headline act and I am looking forward to her next performance. 7/10
Review+Photos: Mark Smith
 |
 |
Photos: Parralox
Next up were Parralox – which boded well from the start as they had a Sequential Circuits Pro-One synthesizer on stage. The band arrived on stage all dressed in black and looking very Gothic, so I was expecting something dark and gloomy. I was happily surprised that what I heard was excellent synthpop and the vocals, from new vocalist Johanna, were excellent. To be honest, the music was very europop/nu-disco and none the worse for that. Towards the end of the set they were joined on stage by Francine, who had performed earlier in the evening, and this changed the style and sound of the group, but I think I preferred Johanna’s vocals. I have to say I very much enjoyed the performance. 7/10
Setlist: Eye In The Sky, Black Jeans, Hotter, Sharper Than A Knife, Electric Nights, Don't Listen To Me, Crying On The Dancefloor
 |
 |
Photos: Polly Scattergood
Finally we come to the headline (Mute Records) act Polly Scattergood, and I have to say she gave a fantastic performance - despite claiming concerns for her voice, requiring her to take a bottle of brandy on stage. Set-wise she performed most of the tracks from her new album Arrows but presented it with the quirkiness and slightly off the wall performance that I would expect from her. Musically the sounds and mix were spot on and she managed to totally engage her audience. For me a true headline act and I am looking forward to her next performance. 7/10
Review+Photos: Mark Smith
| INDEX | NEW? | MUSIC | GIGS | INTERVIEWS | DOWNLOADS | FEEDBACK | LINKS | ©-DSO |