Savages + Beak> -
Camden Electric Ballroom – 21st February 2013
Tonight’s gig starts with
dancers performing on the dance floor in slow motion to lumbering doom-electro.
They begin as the audience enters, and they combine together to make
fantastical looking creatures. It is quite simply the most inventive and
imaginative introduction to a gig that I’ve ever seen.
The invention continues with
Beak>. This is the side project of Geoff barrow from Portishead; comprising
himself on drums, Billy Fuller on bass and Matt Williams on drums. They produce
ethereal electro art-rock designed to take the listener to far-away places. The
obvious Kraftwerk comparisons apply, but there is also an element of early Pink
Floyd brought into play here. They make time stand still, in a good way.
Savages return us to a sense
of electrified urgency, with a long (accidental?) burst of feedback before
breaking into “Shut Up”. They exude an air of glacial danger and otherness
which is downright intimidating. They vent their ire for a while on the “lazy
monitor man” who is apparently missing from his post.
They are even tighter and
more razor sharp than when I saw them at Brighton Haunt in the Summer. They
seem to remain just on the right side of being in control with Jehnny Beth hitting
herself during “Hit Me”. They end with “Husbands”, “Fuckers” and as seems to be
usual, no encore. There is no waste with this band – they are lean, mean and
dangerous. 21st Century music as it’s meant to be played. Savages
will melt your cerebral cortex.
Mark Kelly
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