Almost a week old, but it's the old review I actually found on the web about the Ladytron's show at the Opera House on 4:20.
http://www.chartattack.com/DAMN/2006/04/2101.cfm
LIVE: Ladytron Get With The Times
Friday April 21, 2006 @ 12:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
April 20, 2006
Opera House
Toronto, ON
by Noah Love
Ladytron are perhaps the most misunderstood band of this generation. Their debut, 604, is one of the few tolerable electroclash records, but the band never wanted to be identified by that label. Follow-up Light + Magic came out just as the hipsters turned on Peaches and Fischerspooner, and the band spent most of that year trying to deny they sounded anything like the electroclash brethren. And, truly, they didn't. The last half of their sophomore disc sounds like a Breeders album with synth. That's where Ladytron's story was supposed to end, but they defied their detractors by making a record that maintains their disconnected vibe and takes their instrumentation to soaring peaks. The Witching Hour is a great record, but is anybody still listening? A sold-out night at the Opera House would suggest they are.
I caught the last half of opening act Presets. The band are two dudes, one who plays drums and the other keyboards. Their music seemed to be well-received by the kids near the stage, but everyone else seemed a little less than interested in the band's Joy Division-on-mescaline stylings.
After an extended break, Ladytron's four members, as well as a touring drummer and bassist, hit the stage dressed all in black. Witching Hour opener "High Rise" announced a night rife with tracks from the new disc, and the band's new, fuller sound was also one of the set's themes.
In an obvious yet heavily effective effort to distance themselves from their formerly sparse keyboard and drum machine beginnings, every track from 604 (including classics "He Took Her To A Movie" and "Playgirl") and Light + Magic ("Blue Jeans," "Cracked LCD" and set closer "Seventeen") was given a huge instrumental kick. "Cracked LCD" in particular sounded more like a real song than it ever has. The live drumming gave all of the songs a more tangible sense of urgency.
Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo remained cool as ice throughout, delivering no-wave vocals over no less than seven synthesizers (I kept thinking Ladytron should be called Kings Of Korg). Aroyo's sing-speak is a little more irritating live than it is on disc because it's oddly forced, but her take on Witching Hour's "amTV" proved she's better than that and should continue with actual singing in the future.
Ladytron succeed and will continue to succeed because they're always a half-step ahead of the game. They consistently define what's trendy in both music and fashion, and while it might date their CD covers, it makes every note they play relevant and compelling — at least for this moment.
