I thought I wasn’t very familiar with Ladyhawke’s music but, as she worked her way through her set tonight (Nov 6th), it became clear that I was far more familiar than I initially realised!

Generally speaking, the performance was quite understated, but her relentless and consistent delivery of extremely catchy tunes meant that I sincerely warmed to her as the set progressed. There were moments in the gig when she even rose to the heights of Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde and Justine Frischmann in terms of song arrangement and vocal delivery – albeit with a New Zealander twang, some disco bleeps and a little less charisma – which was impressive to say the least, but her band definitely needed a bit of a wash and some stage-worthy clothes. Their greasy and disheveled appearance totally detracted from the music’s impact.

It was also apparent that the material from her self-titled debut is slightly superior to the material from her second album Anxiety  – excluding ‘The Quick & the Dead’ and ‘Black White & Blue’ that is. She certainly electro-rocked it out though and the unexpected highlight of the night came from a captivating cover of Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit.

All in all, it was a solid and uplifting performance; perhaps best summerised by a fellow gig-goer who remarked between songs: “This is a VERY polite gig!” And that’s exactly what it was…very polite and very nice.

Other highlights: My Delirium, Paris is Burning, Dusk Till Dawn.

Matthew Barks