Ladytron are an electronic music outfit who formed in Liverpool back in 1999 by Daniel Hunt, Reuben Wu, Helen Marnie, and Mira Aroyo. They are famously known for blending synth-pop, electroclash, and shoegaze. The group have released influential albums such as ‘Witching Hour’ and ‘Time’s Arrow’ and still remain a staple on the modern electronic scene. They have released many albums which can be located on their Bandcamp page HERE.
Ladytron were famously heralded by Brian Eno as exemplary British pop music, and they took their name from a song by Roxy Music, the influential band that Eno was an early member of.
By our reckoning the last time Ladytron played live in Brighton was back on 23rd November 2008, when they were at the Concorde 2 as part of their ‘Velocifero tour’.
Ladytron have now announced a quartet of headline dates for next month, where they will be calling in at Manchester, London and Glasgow, but they kick off the mini-tour here in Brighton at the Chalk venue on 13th December. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased HERE.
We were fortunate to have caught up with Ladytron at Crystal Palace Bowl back in the summer when they were supporting Gary Numan, here is our account of that performance:
LADYTRON – CRYSTAL PALACE BOWL, LONDON 6.8.26 (17:45 – 18:30)
Ladytron are an electronic outfit who formed in Liverpool back in 1999. The band famously took their name from the Roxy Music tune that is found on their 1972 self-titled album. The group consists of Helen Marnie (lead vocals, synthesizers), Mira Aroyo (vocals, synthesizers), and Daniel Hunt (synthesizers, guitar, vocals), and they have thus far released eight studio albums to date, with the latest being the double-vinyled ‘Paradises’ which dropped on 20th March this year.
The band’s sound blends electropop with new wave and shoegazing elements. Ladytron have described their sound as “electronic pop”. They focused on a balance between pop structures and experimental sounds. Some of the group’s songs performed by Aroyo contain lyrics written in her native Bulgarian.
An astonishing fact is that Ladytron have yet to have a UK Top 40 Single, but they have had 7 tunes within the Top 100 and 4 of those climbed between No.42 and No.45. All of their studio albums have also fallen short of the UK Top 40, with the highest being 2023’s ‘Time’s Arrow’ which peaked at No.67.
Despite their lack of chart success, they are very well regarded within the music industry and are often called upon to offer up their remixing services on other artists tracks, which have included Dave Gahan, Erasure, Goldfrapp, Apoptygma Berzerk, Placebo, Blondie, Gang of Four, Christina Aguilera, Nine Inch Nails, Bloc Party, Kings of Convenience, Soulwax and Róisín Murphy.
This afternoon electro-clashers Ladytron are kicking off proceedings at the Crystal Palace Bowl with a 48 minute set which ran from 5:43pm to 6:31pm. During this time they offload 11 tunes with a half dozen of these being culled from their latest ‘Paradises’ record.
There’s a host of synths on the stage including three different Korgs, a Roland D-10, a small Novation unit and a Kawai K1 II which for yours truly is very promising indeed.
Glaswegian born Helen Marnie is centre stage and looking very much the part in her black dress, shades and striking bob grey haircut which stands out in the beaming sunshine. Something which doesn’t go a miss as Daniel, who is behind her, notes that they don’t come out in daylight! To Helen’s right (our left) is Sofia born Mira and to the rear are two touring musicians, whom I’m assuming are drummer Peter Kelly and Andrew Hunt on synthesizer, percussion, saxophone.
Numan’s half domed silver disco balls which are littered across the stage have no effect in the direct sunlight, but at least the band are benefitting from the efforts of the two live feed cameramen in front of the stage as the band are shown on the two large screens either side of the stage. They also have the large LED screen behind them to play accompanying videos. With a “Hi Crystal Palace we are Ladytron” from Helen, the 5 musicians open their set with ‘In Blood’ (from ‘Paradises’). Their sound is as crisp and the opening barrage of keys certainly grabs the many Numan fans by the scruff of the neck. You see the great thing about Numanoids is that they are so loyal and well before the 5pm opening, a long queue had already formed and thus Ladytron were going to be playing to a decent sized crowd. Throughout their set, more punters arrived and I’m sure that Ladytron were winning more fans by the minute.
With an opener that sounded like a mix of early Numan meets Goldfrapp, how could Ladytron go wrong? The drumming led ‘Ghosts’ from 2008’s ‘Velocifero’ album, was up next, and followed by the second cut from ‘Paradises’, this being ‘I See Red’. This benefitted from those Numanesque keys sound as well as thudding drums. I can easily see how Ladytron were selected as support. There was more of the same for ‘Deadzone’ from 2019’s self-titled album, with its enjoyable bouncy beat.
Ladytron then seriously gave their new long player a shot in the arm by offloading a quartet of cuts: these being ‘Secret Dreams Of Thieves’, ‘Metaphysica’, ‘A Death In London’ and ‘Sing’. During this section Mira had a go on lead vocals, which I must say I very much enjoyed and this reminded me of forgotten New Romantic icon Ronny (check out ‘Blue Cabaret’) mixed with also forgotten 1978 tune ‘Disco Clone’ by Cristina which was sung in Brechtian pastiche style. With the new tunes there is also the vibe of the Pet Shop Boys, so if I was PSB’s manager I would secure Ladytron for their next tour support. Also of note in this section was Andrew’s saxophone on ‘A Death In London’ and ‘Sing’ also reminded me of Tiny Magnetic Pets, actually come to think of it the band’s sound is very similar.
After ‘Fighting In Built Up Areas’ from 2005’s ‘Witching Hour’ album, the levels of enjoyment were increased with the performing of electro-popper ‘Seventeen’ from 2002’s ‘Light & Magic’ album, which it seems many folk standing around me knew. They signed off with their electronic chugger ‘Destroy Everything You Touch’ from 2005’s ‘Witching Hour’ and overall went down very well with the punters. I’ve finally broken my Ladytron duck. Let’s hope it’s not the only time I catch them.
Ladytron:
Helen Marnie – lead vocals, synthesizer (1999–present)
Mira Aroyo – synthesizer, backing and occasional lead vocals (1999–present)
Daniel Hunt – synthesizer, guitar, bass, occasional backing vocals (1999–present)
Current touring musicians:
Peter Kelly – drums (2018–present)
Andrew Hunt – synthesizer, percussion, saxophone (2025–present)
Ladytron setlist:
‘In Blood’ (from 2026 ‘Paradises’ album)
‘Ghosts’ (from 2008 ‘Velocifero’ album)
‘I See Red’ (from 2026 ‘Paradises’ album)
‘Deadzone’ (from 2019 ‘Ladytron’ album)
‘Secret Dreams Of Thieves’ (from 2026 ‘Paradises’ album)
‘Metaphysica’ (from 2026 ‘Paradises’ album)
‘A Death In London’ (from 2026 ‘Paradises’ album)
‘Sing’ (from 2026 ‘Paradises’ album)
‘Fighting In Built Up Areas’ (from 2005 ‘Witching Hour’ album)
‘Seventeen’ (from 2002 ‘Light & Magic’ album)
‘Destroy Everything You Touch’ (from 2005 ‘Witching Hour’ album)
