A Jubilant Performance
Glow sticks were flying around like fireflies as the tension and excitement mounted in the Portsmouth Pyramids. The crowd knew it wouldn't be long before Nu Rave heroes the Klaxons stepped onto the stage, and they could barely contain themselves. As the glow sticks flew around more and more people were emerging from the crowd looking like they had caught a radioactive type of measles from the sticks splitting sending their contents all over the crowd.
As the Klaxons stepped out on stage looking like an eighties throwback band deafening cheers filled the room. As soon as the band started to play, the room literally looked like a sea of people, everyone was jumping and waving their arms to the music. Recent hits 'Golden Skans' and 'Myths Of The Near Future' we the big crowd pleasers of the night. About ninety nine percent of the room was singing along with what are easily Klaxons' best known tracks.
Jamie Reynolds grew up in nearby towns Southampton and Bournemouth and it was noticeable that he had lots of friends and family at the show. At one point he dedicated a song to his mum and rightly so, she had been dancing and cheering harder than anyone else at the show.
The siren and yelp filled 'Atlantis To Interzone' was like a throwback to the early days of Nu Rave and it got the whole crowd's hands up in the air and had them waving along to the music. The vision in front of me put me in mind of being at a hardcore dance club or festival. Not only was the band's sound impressive tonight they had some of the best lighting I have seen in a long while. At some points it was a little over powering, blinding in fact, but for the most part it really fitted in with the band's music and definitely enhanced how they came across live.
Due to the Klaxons' songs being so short it felt like they had been on stage for a lifetime before leaving the stage after forty minutes. The crowd erupted into cries of 'Klaxons! Klaxons!' and it wasn't long before the band came bouncing back onto the stage to play an encore. It was a good performance by the Klaxons, although is seemed a little complacent in comparison to their performance on the NME Tour. Last night they seemed to lack stage presence and Reynolds, who is a focus point, isn't dynamic and didn't do anything to raise the night's festivities, but the room was filled with dedicated fans who loved every part of their show which is all that really matters.