Hadouken! Live
When I was walking up to the Wedgewood Rooms I had the feeling that I’d be pretty much the oldest swinger in town, and I wasn’t far wrong. If it wasn’t for the fact that some of the crowd had been escorted by their parents, I would have had a good six years on everyone else in the room.
I’m always curious when seeing a nu-rave style band live, as so many different effects are used on their music that you know it’s not going to sound the same live. Hadouken!’s music comes across much heavier and rocky at a live show, so while listening to them and looking around the room, seeing a see of neon clothing did seem a little odd.
The rockier edge did not deter the crowd who happily bounced along throughout Hadouken!’s set, even when the songs weren’t so dance infused the crowd continued to jump up and down pretty much simultaneously, and their energy seemed to fuel the five youngsters on stage. The band played a good mix of old and new songs and there were plenty of moments where the crowd and the band sang together in unison.
The crowd seemed to love Hadouken!’s performance and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves almost as much as their fans. I don’t claim to be a huge Hadouken! fan, in all honesty I don’t know many of their tracks, but to me they sounded much better live than on anything I’ve heard them record. There was a cool rawness about their music as it rung out of the Wedgewood Rooms’ speakers and there is something about that which is very appealing. It’s fair to say that all the sweaty kids in the crowd went home incredibly sweaty but incredibly happy.