Wednesday 03/06/09 Klaxons @ The Kasbah, Coventry

The stifled reception from the crowd welcoming tonight’s headliners to the stage at Coventry’s Kasbah almost suggests it’s a bland tribute band who frequent the live circuit. Not in fact an ultra-intimate 'warm-up' show by the award-winners Klaxons ahead of their summer festival dates.
 
With a shroud of smoke atmospherically surrounding both crowd and band, a wardrobe that wouldn’t look out of place in an apocalyptic horror movie (particularly Jamie Reynolds grey armour styled top) and trademark flawless in-sync vocal harmonies, the ingredients are all there tonight to make this a prolific event. Add to this the prospect of nearly a third of the 12-song set being new songs including, In Silver Forest, and Valley of the Calm Trees, the buzz and anticipation should be measurable from the heavy drool oozing from the mouths (and ears) of onlookers, yet this image is far from the mild reactions shown tonight, implying that the audience are surprisingly resilient to the entertainment before them. That is until the sudden thrusts of hands in the air frantically waving glow-sticks and erratic dancing displays during Magick which features a much exaggerated pause, and later in Golden Skans and Gravity’s Rainbow, betraying the real depth of adulation those in the crowd have, perhaps disguised as indifference before.

Though the newer songs still contain the Klaxons’ brand of vocal chimes and hefty melodies, with more prominent guitars and drums, tonight they seem darker in contrast to the new-rave colours that accompanied the Klaxons’ strong grip on the music scene back in 2007.

In an opposite scene to their humble arrival earlier in the night, It’s Not Over Yet and Atlantis to Interzone sees the Klaxons’ music prevail as they leave the audience transformed, having succumbed to every sound. Was it an iconic gig featuring displays of pandemonium, and one with the excitement and intensity present as a physical element visible to everyone there? No, it was a surreal and intimate performance that those who attended can revel in their involvement. Those that didn’t can take relief in knowing they didn’t miss a defining event.