Good Weather For Airstrikes

It’s Klaxons. It’s Studio B. Do I even need to write this review? You already know it was an awesome time.

It had been over a month since I last got ridiculous at Studio B when Simian Mobile Disco came to town on March 6th, and I’ve spent the last few weeks in legitimate withdrawal from the venue. Suffice it to say, I was jonesin’ hardcore to get back there, and news that Klaxons would be bringing their neon-flavored jams to the venue had me in line the day tickets went on sale back in February. So yeah… I was fucking ready.

Apparently so was everyone else though, as the venue was packed before the clock even struck 11 and almost unnavigable when we returned just before the band went on at 12:30. Opening was Bonde de Role and Surkin, but I made an executive decision and decided that getting supremely fucked up was a better way to spend my time than checking out two bands I wasn’t all that into, so we rolled out to The Palace to work on that with a few (read: seven) $1.50 brews before heading back over to Studio B just as Klaxons we’re about to take the stage. Things got a bit intense as we tried to make our way towards the center of the dancefloor, as the crowd was PACKED, and we began the show in a less-than-ideal spot way off to the left of the stage, conveniently situated directly behind a large concrete column. Things opened up once the band began to play though, and a brutal one-two punch of “The Bouncer” and “Atlantis To Interzone” threw the kids into a frenzy and got the crowd moving right from the get-go. Shortly thereafter came blockbuster singles “Golden Skans” and “Magick”, with solid album tracks “As Above, So Below”, the “She’s Hearing Voices”-esque “Two Receivers” and “Hall of Records”, which I hadn’t really given the time of day until now, but sounded awesome with its incessant “Come and dance with me!” refrain.

Finally, just as that unimpeachable bassline from “Gravity’s Rainbow” began to blare out over the speakers, the pit opened up for a fleeting moment and I was able to squeeze in and get in on the frenzied fist-pumping and glowstick-waving. “Gravity’s” proved to be the highlight of the evening to that point, but it was straight-up GAME OVER when “Not Over Yet” dropped immediately after it, and shit was just bananas in the pit. Honestly, I’d be surprised if I didn’t bloody at least six people in the process of rocking out harder than I’ve ever rocked out before, and I can honestly pinpoint the song as perhaps the most awesome four minutes of my life to this point not involving Bloc Party, sexual intercourse or that quesadilla I ate in Mexico that one time. And while it definitely should have ended there, as the high-water mark for excitement had clearly been reached for the evening, it curiously continued for two more songs. The always decent “Isle of Her” and the somewhat dreadful “Four Horsemen of 2012″ were fine and all, and the live setting did allow me to enjoy “Horsemen” for the first time to date, but the fact remains that the band blew their load a bit too early in a big way. Come on now, Klaxons, you can structure a setlist better than that. All in all though, I can’t complain, those kids know how to put on a phenomenal show and they worked the crowd at Studio B like no artist I’ve seen there since Girl Talk brought the place to its knees back in February. Below you’ll find an assortment of Klaxons’ hotness including brand new B-side “Electrickery” and Soulwax’s MASSIVE remix of “Gravity’s Rainbow”, both off the track’s brand new single release, as well as two flawless live recordings to give you an idea of just how out of control the live experience is. Enjoy.

MP3s:
“Not Over Yet” - Klaxons ((highly recommended))
“Electrickery” - Klaxons
“Gravity’s Rainbow” (Soulwax Remix) - Klaxons ((highly recommended))
“Golden Skans” (Live in Manchester) - Klaxons
“The Bouncer” (Live in Manchester) - Klaxons

MORE! HOT! FIRE!
We’ve been loving Does It Offend You, Yeah? ever since we first got our hands on “We Are Rockstars” way back when, so it’s my pleasure to present to you this simple, yet mad effective re-edit of the track from Australian DJ extraordinaire WOODIE!. Does It Offend You, Yeah? are set to do massive things in the UK this year, mark my words.

MP3: “We Are Rockstars” (WOODIE! Remix) - Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Also, DIOYY?’s XFM radio mix is the best DJ mix I’ve heard in a minute. Get at it here.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 14th, 2007 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Live Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.