Gigs of GIGS pt 2.

So I says to Mabel...

I went to see N.E.R.D and Chromeo.

I think this sums it up perfectly:

Which is pretty much what it was like during the N.E.R.D set. Lots of people jumping, getting kneed in the back by tiny people (and I'm not that tall myself), and according to my friend, nearly getting into a fight because some guy misheard what I absent-mindingly said about being scared of being elbowed in the face (he thought I wanted to elbow him in the face) and then me not noticing (accidentally) when he told me "I'd like to see you try that". Luckily he "mellowed out" during the first set and stood around glassy-eyed for the rest of the concert. I only found this out the next day... when we were at the Sydney Festival!

The sound was a bit... bad. My friend and I were close to the front of the stage, and it was pretty much booming music and fuzz. Pharrell's vocal was fairly clear, but I guess it isn't that important considering he pretty much is made of Charisma. (and then some). Watching him squint as he saunters around, finding people to sing to in the front row reminded me of the way a tiger toys with its prey - it's kind of hypnotic and in a strange, perverse way - slightly seductive. I'm pretty sure a few people fainted in the front row.

All in all, it was pretty fun. I enjoyed myself immensley and jumped along and sang/shouted along with the hits. In fact, most of the set list were just their hits, with only two songs from their new album (which I have yet to obtain!).

I think the highlight of the night was CHROMEO.

No Joke. These electro-funk maestros from Montreal, Canada are awesome live.

Yeah it's kind of kitsch and kind of 80's. But the allure of sleazy, super-elecro, guitar driven, tiny-drum playing, light up  turntable dudes playing supercool, superfun music is undeniable. Definitely will be seeing them again. So funky and awesome. The dance floor was just seething and squirming and shouting "two-step!" "two-step!"

They played all their hits, including Needy Girl, Mama's Boy, Fancy Footwork.... heaps of stuff. Plus they played a fair few numbers from their latest album Business Casual, including the aforementioned "Night By Night" which I DEFINITELY recommend watching in the youtube video up there.

 Dave-one, the guitarist and P-Thugg, the keyboard player, do a myriad of things including swapping instruments, busting percussion solos on their miniature drum kits, jamming out on cymbals, playing vocoder, slapping basses, playing scorching solos... truly they are a sight to behold!

A great gig. Good set from Tinnie Tempah (he did a rap over the Far East Movement's Like a G6) and I danced for a solid hour to the beats of BoyzNoise (he chucked in some ACDC riffs and Billie Jean bass and I was like waaaaah). The Faders were also DJ-ing during the breaks, dropping a lot of RnB and Rap and Crunk hits for the increasingly pumped up crowd. Awesome!