Goldfrapp

I never quite understood the saying that after eating a Chinese meal you feel hungry again five minutes later, but after watching Goldfrapp at the Manchester Ritz on Tuesday night, I can now relate to this sensation. After several hours of live music including a thirteen-song set from the headline act, I was left feeling satiated and yet curiously hollow.

Another in the XFM Access All April series of Promotional Concerts, this gig began very positively with Leeds based five piece Vib Gyor. The band performed a sweet set that was long enough just to whet the appetite, delivering their luscious melodies to a rapidly filling venue without the aid of a sound check.

Second act on stage were The Shortwave Set. Arriving like the illegitimate love children of the White Stripes & the Mamas & The Papas complete with handkerchief adorned sleeves, David Cassidy haircuts and a rotating roster of instruments including the ukulele & melodica, their set was a little too pretentious and a little too slow to hold the audience’s full attention. The band does deserve some praise, however. With their clever use of sampling and catchy harmonies, this is the style of music that plays well as an MP3 but just doesn’t necessarily translate to great live performance.

After a long musical introduction using a pre-record of ‘Supernature’, Alison Goldfrapp & her backing band finally took to the stage & it was pretty obvious from the outset that Ms Goldfrapp was not in the best of moods. Dressed relatively demurely in tight black jeans, a puffy sleeved black blouse & with straightened hair, she stood firmly between her duel wind machines & stayed there most of the night, barely giving the guy working the spotlight any reason to exert himself.

The first song was the deliciously operatic ‘Utopia’ followed by ‘Lovely Head’ – both off their darker first Album ‘Felt Mountain’. Alison’s voice was given free reign during these pieces, soaring & wailing in a flawless vocal performance which continued through the entire set. The backing band also played faultlessly & with Jesus in white converse on violin & a 70’s style Pimp on Base, you were definitely drawn into Goldfrapp’s alternate Universe.

This is Alison Goldfrapp’s world and she came across like a Narnian Ice Queen – looking beautiful, sounding beautiful, but sadly not really connecting with most of the crowd. Perhaps having an audience made up of people that seemed to have turned up simply because they had been given free tickets didn’t help. Their distinct lack of enthusiasm & constant drone of chatter probably did nothing to help improve the lead singer’s mood.



As the songs progressed through to 2003’s ‘Black Cherry’ Album, two dancers appeared on the stage. During ‘Train’, the girls in bikinis and wolf masks prowled around seductively before disappearing & reappearing again at intermittent points during the rest of the show. Dressed as either retro futuristic fembots, horse’s or fringed blue gimps, the costumes were all intentionally sexy yet slightly disturbing.

As the show gathered momentum & the more up-tempo songs from 2005’s ‘Supernature’ Album kicked in, the atmosphere noticeably improved. Alison’s mood seemed to pass and the audience began to respond to familiar songs such as ‘Ride a White Horse’ & ‘Ooh La La’. Finally by the encore, which included ‘Number 1’ and ‘Strict Machine’, the crowd had begun to wake up, but it was too little too late.

It would be harsh to say the show was style over substance, as behind the theatrical costumes, great lighting & wind machines, true talent was most definitely on display. I can only say that seeing Goldfrapp live is certainly no waste of time, but after a gig like this one, you may leave on a fleeting high but you could be left wanting to sink your teeth into something a bit meatier on the way home.

Set List:
Utopia
Lovely Head
Tip Toe
Train
Slide In
You Never Know
Satin Chic
Fly Me Away
Ride A White Horse
Ooh La La

Black Cherry
Number 1
Strict Machine

FUTURE GIGS

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