I saw them once, I saw them twice

As above, so below - and Portland was a different reflection of the high Klaxons' achieved with their Seattle show. Before the show, Simon admitted he was feeling a bit dead as he ordered a diet coke for himself and the requested tequila for me. It showed on stage, and even off. They weren't anywhere near as visible mingling in the crowd as they were in Seattle. In fact, they were pretty much invisible until they took to the stage after yet another eccentric show from Fist Fite - they're second ever, and first in their hometown.

Jonnie's roommates formed the majority of the audience that was situated directly in front of the stage and when she asked for a cigarette, one very vocal one threw one at her with all his might as another audience member (and possibly another roommate) politely handed one up to her. My cries for 'Terminator' went unanswered, but they did play their interlude 'High Five Team/High Five Team-O' directly upon my shout for it. I'm almost scared of my level of fangirl-dom for them.

I think why Klaxons came off as a bit moody when they took to the Dante's stage was that they were put off by the fact that much of the audience remained sitting through out their set. And it'd be different if it was balcony seating, but it was right on the floor, right in front of the stage. Of course the US isn't going to have the mob-mentality of their shows in the UK and Europe, but still. . . enthusiasm enough to stand would have gone a long way. . .

They played the exact same set as Seattle in terms of setlist. Marisa's favorite was 'Golden Skans', which she wasn't expecting to translate as well live as it did and I felt 'As Above, So Below' was the best and had possibly the most dancable beat in terms of their songs' live recreations. They didn't have the same amount of contact with each other on stage in comparison to Seattle. I really think the reason for the difference in energy is that it was much easier to feed off of the frenzied energy of Seattle's crowd. They played with the house lights on, so everyone could be seen, and the audience was absolutely insane. Portland was absolutely subdued (aside from two couples who acted as if Dante's was their bedroom) and very dark in terms of venue and stage lighting.
They still put on a great show.
And still repeated that they were from London multiple times through out their set :)

The highlight of their set was undoubtedly when Fist Fite's Jonnie's energy spilled onto stage, in the form of her jumping on, doing stationary running for a few beats, and then playfully assaulting (:D) by means of tickling and biting each member as they ended their set.

'My Love' Klaxons Justin Timberlake Cover MP3

Afterwards, Jamie was DJing at Rotture with DJ Joee Irwin. Marisa and I went to the Tube first

(spy one of the Candy Cane Shivs of Reverse Dotty getting down in the crowd in his striped top)

and got down to DJ Linoleum as she played some Daft Punk and Cassie, then made our way over to Rotture around 12:30-ish. It was pretty dead. It was moved from the downstairs portion known as Branx since a sub had blown the night before. It was SO dark upstairs.
This is where I become ashamed.
I decided to leave.
At the door DJ Joee Irwin wondered how I could leave - it was free! I was tired though. Then, this is where I don't even want to continue typing my future regret, he noted that Junior Boys would also be playing a set. And I still left!
This is the type of night I want to move to Berlin for, but really the atmosphere was so lacking and that's a big part of the experience. Maybe twenty people were sitting at tables, no one dancing, house music overhead and I just could not suspend my disbelief long enough to believe that this would turn into an unmissable party that would somehow keep me awake, involved (as Marisa had to leave), and be worth a 20 dollar cab fare home that I just barely had. I heard second hand that the last three Junior Boys songs killed. . .

Friend Fist Fite NOW:
www.myspace.com/fistfitefistfite

and while you're at it, friend DJ Linoleum too!
www.myspace.com/djlinoleum

Comments

[Meg]

How can you SIT through a Klaxons gig? The last time we saw 'em there were bleedin' knees and concussions to be had. Gigs in the US must be proper shitbox. If you can't rave it up to Klaxons, you might as well be dead.