Brighton's best...
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GAYYY BARR!...
review Something makes me think Electric 6 booked the Concorde before they hit the top ten. Something makes me think there were twice as many people in here as there should be. And something tells me this was the best night out I've had in about 5 years.A packed, and I mean PACKED Concorde could hardly believe its luck. It's so hot and sweaty it feels like it's gonna start raining indoors. We're crushed in like sardines and keeping our cool (just) with draft lager and something with cranberry juice that glows in the dark. The warm-up band looked like The Strokes and sounded like The Libertines (not a bad thing), and the bit of disco they used to fill in while the crew put together the main set was bloody wonderful! Bow Wow Wow, Martha And The Muffins, and a sleazy version of "Getting Hot In Here" that sounded like Peaches getting dirty and low down. Lights dimmed and ready for action. That's action with a capital A, a bit of blue smoke, some very VERY big lights and a rumble and thrash as the next biggest thing to come out of Detroit since the motor car arrived on stage. Electric Six look like Sparks meets the Hives and sound like being in a train smash with Terrorvision and getting date-raped by Slade. Frontman Dick Valentine, suited and booted, might look modest and unprepossessing as an undertaker off stage, but as soon as the lights hit him he's the bad guy from Silence of The Lambs. After introducing himself to the crowd with a menacing "And how was your day?" we get taken on a noisy, racing, roaring, thrashing ride down the post-punk highway. Kicking the songs aside like road-kill we get dragged through most of the new album (Fire, XL records), get to see some frenetic energetic guitar playing, get glared at by the serial killers on the stage and witness some of the best dancing I've ever seen (last time I tried that - I got asked to leave Revenge). Electric Six sing songs about nuclear war, death at the disco, ladeeez, weapons of mass destruction, more ladeeez and fires down below (you know what I mean). Welcome to the testosterone disco. I bet these boys eat a lot of red meat. Obvious high points were the giant Mexican wave that accompanied last single 'Danger High Voltage', Valentines 'Ugly and Poor' t-shirt and the splendid, glitzy, trashy back drop. But lets be honest, everyone was waiting for one song, and we got our reward... GUUUURRL! (I think he's got something to put in you!) I'M GONNA TAKE YOU TO A GAAAYYY BAARRRR! Suddenly I was in a mosh pit that went all the way to the back door. Comedy sideburns, stovepipe hats, mobile phones shooting through clouds of blue smoke, steam and flying bodies. The band had to take a break halfway through to catch their breath and if the look on their faces meant anything, I think they were a little bit scared of us. Lots of genuine interaction from a band of true showmen, a nice namecheck for fellow Detroit Rockers, The White Stripes and a nod to "The Home Of The white Rappers". A truly fantastic show. Valentine got a huge cheer by admitting that the Brighton Concorde was the only Venue outside Detroit they had ever played twice, and the bashful admission that they had been in a restaurant last night in Northampton and heard Gaybar as a ringtone on some bloke's phone and suddenly realised they were successful. Electric Six have had a bit of a bumpy ride over that last few weeks and are perhaps Discovering that success can be a monster. But judging by tonight they can tame the beast. The main website is worth a look whilst it gets it's head round the recent changes in lineup, www.electricsix.com. There's no doubt that when they get back to the UK from their world tour it's gonna have to be a MUCH bigger venue. Burning hot, deafening, blinding, thrashing roller coaster of smoke and fire. If this is what hell is like, I'm gonna be very very bad. Words: Richard de Pesando
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