Tuesday 26/11/09 The Asteroids Galaxy Tour @Bush Hall, London

“If you could all come a little closer it would be nice” whispers Giana Factory’s Loui Foo, sister of Raveonettes Sharin Foo. Renowned for its intimate lack of obtrusive front of stage crowd barriers, Bush Hall is a venue where the distinction between performer and audience is often respectfully blurred. But with more visible floor space than anything else, that intimacy is proving problematic, both parties looking like rabbits caught in headlights, more so the female trio charged with opening the show.

It’s more a case of wrong time, wrong place than lack of songs or proficiency, their detached blend of sparse, sombre, electro-pop romanticism not quite what tonight’s audience were expecting. But as the band grows in confidence, so too does the crowd and ‘Heart Thief’, ‘Trippin’ and ‘Rainbow Girl’ meet with the genuine applause they deserve making good the girls first visit to London.

And what a difference a support band can make. Where before swinging the proverbial cat wouldn’t have been a problem, it’s now an impossibility, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour are in town and as ‘Push The Envelope’ kick-starts their European tour its immediately apparent that Bush Hall is in the mood for dancing.

How the hell you’re supposed to dance to their technicoloured pop is a different matter altogether and from the outside looking in those cutting couldn’t give a shit shapes do so with the choreographed synchronicity of a silent disco. On stage however vocalist Mette Lindberg, wriggling beneath a slinky, sparkly, short black dress is in fine form, making the night her own while the bands architect Lars Iversen hides at the back behind sunglasses and under a crown lumberjack hat.

Effortlessly energetic, polished and chic the set provides an expected yet relentless barrage of hits with ‘The Sun Ain’t Shining No More’, ‘Around The Bend’ and ‘Bad Fever’ fuelling the audience’s appetite for more. Its an insatiable appetite and one the band take advantage of by road testing an expanded repertoire which notably includes a cover of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Inner City Blues’ alongside the newly penned and punchy stylings of ‘Ghost In My Head’, ‘Zombies’ and an encore ending ‘Fantasy Friend Forever’.

As far as opening tour dates go, tonight has been exceptional and as far as showcasing new material goes the reaction has been frenzied, the only downside is that tonight is their only UK date, but there’s always next year.