HAIM

When: Thursday 6th March

 

Where: Brixton Academy

 

Why: What do you mean, why??

 

I can now say that I have met a person in real life thanks to Twitter! Not like, forged a real-life friendship or met my future spouse or anything, but met a very nice man briefly near Euston to swap cash and Haim tickets. He couldn’t go because his wife was having a night out and so he was babysitting (as I say, he was a nice man), and I had spontaneously decided to try to get tickets as I was too short-sighted to book them months before when I didn’t really know Haim that well. So it was win-win.

 

My mate and I watched them from right up at the back of the Brixton Academy because we decided to do some pre-drinking at home, but such was the force of their stage presence (and literal volume of both sound and hair) that it felt like we were totally engulfed in the show anyway. Our position also provided comedy gold in the form of me sprinting up the little stairs with two last-minute pints trying to get back before they started, tripping over, obviously, and choosing to save the beer over my shins (you know you’d do the same). Fortunately the drinks helped to numb the pain.

 

The girls blasted onto the stage like gorgeous leggy yetis, and launched into Falling with their trademark long locks flying. I am so jealous of their hair and instantly regretted cutting mine short. I’m still growing it now and am months away from the Haimy majesty I seek. They followed this up with If I could change your mind, which is my favourite Haim track. My dancing was enthusiastic, put it that way – but so was literally everyone else’s in there. It was one of the most vibrant and purely enjoyable gig atmospheres I can remember.

 

There were some awesome covers of Beyonce’s XO and Fleetwood Mac’s Oh Well, and they constantly demonstrated how massively talented they all are, switching around lead vocals and different instruments with sisterly ease. Their rapport and banter with the crowd was killer too, chatting away and sharing awkward stories like total legends (Este’s autocorrect fail had the whole crowd in hysterics). They ended on Let me go, all smashing the hell out of different drums and working the crowd up into an appreciative frenzy. They are so enthusiastic and slick, epic and inspiring and FIERCE and exactly what you want from a gig and a band and like life in general.

 

Brixpig x

Taboo! The Musical

When: Sunday 3^rd March

Where: Brixton Clubhouse

Why: TimeOut bargain offer and because my mum loves Boy George

Ten years after it originally debuted in the West End and on Broadway, Taboo! the musical came back in a slightly revised version to the Brixton Clubhouse and I am SO glad it did. This show was like nothing else I’ve seen before. It’s not any old production that could be simultaneously grungy and fabulous, gritty and bitchy and hilarious. It follows roughly the story of Boy George’s early career, wrapped up in a made up story about another young boy (Billy) who comes to London to find fame and who gets wrapped up in a dark and creative world of excess and freakishness. The whole energy of the room before the start of the show was almost intimidating in its atmospheric, dimly-lit cabaret style seating. The Brixton Clubhouse has to be an ideal setting for this show as the venue’s actual bar becomes part of the staging, and gives an immediacy to many of the show’s club scenes and takes you back to the origins of the story itself. There are catwalks threading through the crowd, the cast loll on the bar and dance on the tables and after the interval the brilliant Paul Baker as Philip Sallon sweeps through the audience offering salmon pinwheels and slashing everyone down with his rapier wit (he culminated his ten minutes or so of audience participation by “sniffing out the lesbians” and sashaying off… brilliant, but also terrifying). There is basically nowhere for the audience to hide – they’re directly involved and right up close to the story and this brings it thuddingly close to home, especially at the dramatic collapse of Marilyn or when Sallon is attacked. It’s intimate and disconcerting and totally in your face.

The cast were SO ridiculously strong, I could not have been more impressed, and I don’t think I have ever seen such beautiful boys up close. Seriously, Paul Treacy and Luke Gage as George and Marilyn respectively were unbelievable: striking, vulnerable and just beautiful. Treacy had Boy George’s mannerisms and voice totally down, and his mesmerising hold over the naïve Billy (played deftly by Alex Jordan Mills) was totally believable. Sam Buttery as Leigh Bowery was also completely mental, but brilliant and outrageous, and not without pathos by the end, when he’s stripped down and being painted by Lucien Freud. Julia Worsley also stood out for me as Billy’s mum Josie, giving a vulnerable, gutsy and very engaging performance, solidified by her incredible voice (and amazing 80s styling!).

The costumes were insanely good, the songs were catchy and clear and I just felt like it was such a brave, crazy and colourful insight into a world I obviously knew nothing about. It’s a delicate balance to pull off something that’s equally emotional and savage, about such a creative and destructive world, but the direction and the casting for this performance were just perfect and I enjoyed it SO much.

Brixpig x  

Robyn

When: Thursday 1^st November

Where: Brixton Academy

Why: She kicks ASS

Photo from theupcoming.co.uk

If I described Marina as fierce, she’s not even on the same scale as the dynamo that is Robyn (although they’re both supporting Coldplay so they’re obviously both winning at life – I’m not even a Coldplay fan but they seem to be like a big deal). I have NEVER seen a more energetic performance (not even from Florence – different style) and despite being a bit of a shit fan and only knowing her singles, as well as Show Me Love obviously (nineties-style) I loved it all. Girl got moves. The visuals were amazing, colourful and mad like Robyn herself. She’s just got so much attitude and her move from popster in the 90s to complete punky siren mentalist now could not have been more successful. She also sang a little bit of Dancing Queen (Sweden, baby) which thrilled my heart. If you ever get a chance to see her live, just DO IT.

Support was from Summer Camp, whose backing visuals featured dance scenes from old movies (genius), and a random woman dressed a mermaid (cracking voice but no idea who she was).

Brixpig x