Hot Chip will STILL break your legs.
There was a time when pop wasn't a dirty word. Nowadays, it represents whatever trashy act that has been compiled by a money hungry manager offering the blandest and in-offensive music, destined to part young children from their pocket money. However, previously, pop was about exciting music, innovative sounds that genuinely got people talking and dancing, offering excitement and a reprieve from their daily dirge. Thankfully, there are still acts around who make this type of music; they just need to be found. Hot Chip are one such act.
Drawing the busiest crowd of the weekend so far, Hot Chip quietly slipped on-stage with little fanfare but very quickly upped the ante. No marketing man would dare compile an act like Hot Chip but musically, they're on form.
The contrasting vocals of Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard provides the initial focus on the act but underneath, the bank of keyboards and guitar sounds resonate and even in a field in Glasgow, were chunky enough to incite mass dancing in a built up area.
Previous single 'And I was a Boy from School' appeared early in the set and was harder live than on record, with its shaky, jittery rhythm and plaintive conclusion sounding huge and warm. Drawing mainly from this years 'The Warning'album, the restrained breakbeats which gave way to some funkier guitar squalling may have initially seemed an electro step too far for the predominantly indie crowd but the set was winning everyone over with its variety and quality. They may proclaim to be in 'No fit state' but it appears that Hot Chip are in very good health indeed.
With a handful of great songs from their repertoire left unplayed, Hot Chip still managed to end on a massive high with 'Over and Over.' Whether it's the lyrical reference to the monkey with a miniature cymbal, the joy of repetition or just the communal feel of the music and vocals, the crowd were whipped into a frenzy and the good feeling of the song was only tempered by the knowledge that the set was over and Hot Chip were gone.
A resounding success from start to finish and by the conclusion of the weekend, the general consensus was that Hot Chip were definitely one of the acts of the two days, and would certainly be some people's favourite act.