Monday, October 02, 2006
Take Us To Your Planet
You know what it's like when you like a band for ages and they keep getting more and more popular and you still really like them but you don't really want to go to their gigs any more because you hate the new fans/what the band are becoming? Yes? No? I do. And I thought I would leave The Pipettes gig at Koko on Friday, their biggest headline show to date, feeling just like that. I've felt like that with lots of bands - Razorlight, Bloc Party, Stellastarr*. And despite the sold out show being choc-a-bloc with 28 year old couples and creepy older men only there to ogle Rose, Becki and Gwenno in their revealing stage get-up, I left convinced that The Pipettes are one of the best pop bands out there right now.
When I saw them for the first time eighteen months ago, they were unsigned, but playing with Sleater-Kinney at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, a far cry from where they are now. And yet very little has changed - they perform with just as much love and enthusiasm, their dance routines are just as cute and, well, they have new homemade polkadot dresses, but the concept is still the same. It makes me happy that their vision and determination has remained uncompromised throughout. Many record companies didn't have the guts to sign them as they didn't know how to market them. You can read my review of their album here.
Live, they charmed the pants off the crowd - not literally, but it wouldn't have taken much more. They ain't no divas and give a good bit of onstage banter. The backdrop featured a light up Pipettes sign and their backing band, the Casettes, were dimly lit in their yellow tank tops. My photos do a better job of explaining it, but it was so swish and I was so proud. I walked into the crisp late September evening feeling satisfied that the Pipettes are well on the road to taking over the planet exactly as they set out two years ago. I would recommend that you see them if you get the chance - first impressions might remind you of the Sheila's Wheels advert, but there's much more to them than retro kitsch.
posted by Unknown at 10/02/2006 11:54:00 pm
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