Making a connection?
With Helen Marnie, one of the two female vocalists who help comprise the band, hailing from Scotland, it was perhaps a slight surprise to hear them announce that this was their first ever Scottish festival date. With the band coming up for a decade of existence that’s a pretty poor state of affairs that some promoters need to look into. That said, with a Friday evening performance at Hydro Connect at least they were finally invited.
Its fair to say that you know what you are going to get with Ladytron and even though their sound has evolved and strengthened over the years and albums, there remains a consistency to their melodic electronica sound that has probably pleased and turned off in equal numbers throughout the years.
The thing is though, Ladytron are not the humourless or soulless act that some people think they are. Whether this is due to the genre they were lumped in with at the start of their career or their penchant for dressing alike, the current line-up even sees the two girls dance! Okay, its hardly a Slipknot style shock-o-rama but there is a lot more to Ladytron than what many perceive there to be.
Classic track ‘Seventeen’ still sits well in their set but the more up to date material is far more rounded and should be enjoyed by a larger audience. ‘Ghosts’ was a recent single, although some of its sound was reminiscent of Ultravox and the early 80s electro pop, which appears to be so popular these days. Which begs the question why Ladytron aren’t bigger? They push the right buttons musically, the band looks and feels like one of the last gangs in town and their live shows are always enjoyable. The crowd who had gathered at the second stage were certainly appreciative but they just weren’t big in numbers. You would like to think that their first Scottish festival date will help spread the word a bit more about this band but looking around as the daylight started to slip, you cant have any confidence in that hope.
Set closer ‘Destroy Everything You Touch’ appears to be the bands best known song and therefore it makes perfect sense for Ladytron to close the show with. Its hard to determine what this set did for the band, hopefully it brought some new fans to their music but with the sound never really being properly right for the intricate sound and the open air effect dimming some of the impact of the band, the first Scottish festival outing wont rank amongst Ladytron’s greatest nights • for reasons other than the performance, which was as excellent as usual.