ELECTRIC SIX – CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON 11.12.22
I arrived somewhat out of breath and ever so cold at Concorde 2 just in time to hear the last half of the last song by The Kut. That short burst of their final tune sounded great – so definitely a band I hope to see more of in the future.
My own late arrival was thanks to the atrocious weather that had turned a typical one-hour drive into a three-hour nightmare journey through the frozen hell of abandoned and crashed cars that littered the road from Hastings to Brighton.
Given how full the venue was when I arrived it was clear that Electric Six’s Brighton fanbase must be a strong one. Either that or those who had made longer pilgrimages must have left home a long time before I did.
Snow and ice may have brought the south east of England to a standstill, but the relentless disco-punk-infused-rock of Detroit’s Electric Six acted like a giant syringe full of anti-freeze straight to the heart for those taking shelter here tonight.
I’ve seen Electric Six many many times over the past two decades, from major festivals to small bars, and they never fail to entertain. Tonight was no exception – despite the band being a synth-man down due to Tait Nucleus? being called away on new daddy paternity duties.
So, for tonight, it may only be ‘Electric Five’, but the band are nonetheless on form and don’t leave anyone feeling short changed.
The set opens with the driving, foot-stamping beat of ‘Synthesizer’ – an understated and yet upbeat and lively choice that sets the party tone for the night ahead.
What follows is a high-octane set at its best. Electric Six feed voraciously upon the energy of their audience, and Brighton always delivers a high-calorie feast for the band, so it’s no surprise they keep coming back for more. This is a crowd who show pure devotion and are word-perfect on every song, from start to finish.
Electric Six became a household name with the release of ‘Gay Bar’, which from a lesser band may have gone down in history as a one-hit wonder. But on offer tonight is a very healthy dose of so many other very familiar favourites.
Raucous renditions of ‘Gay Bar’, ‘Danger!, High Voltage!’ and ‘Dance Commander’ are unsurprisingly met with eruptions from the crowd as soon as each song’s opening notes are struck.
But there is so much more to Electric Six than a handful of popular classics from their debut album.
Spencer Taylor, AKA Dick Valentine, heads up a raucous band of delinquents with a poker-faced persona that makes it all too easy to see him as the band. But the deck of aces up his sleeve is that he has a rock-solid group of top-notch musicians around him who can (and do) deliver superbly catchy song after superbly catchy song.
And this Brighton night puts the band in front of a convention of super fans who appreciate every nuance of every song – with lesser-known tunes being greeted with almost as much eager anticipation as the hits.
The pure warmth of tonight’s performance and the reciprocated smiles that bounce from audience to band and back are enough to melt away any amount of ice and snow outside and provide a perfect start to a celebration of Christmas in a year when we need every help we can get to achieve a festive mood.
With a prolific 19 albums of material spanning just as many years Electric Six have just announced a new long player.
