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Last weekend Hot Chip descended on the newly refurbished (yet already sticky-floored) Academy in Leeds to bring down the house with a set that rarely paused for breath.
Before their arrival, Max Tundra leapt to the stage for half an hour of pure shape-throwing excitement made up from his new album Parallax Error Beheads You, and previous efforts. Finishing with the least expected electro-styled cover version I’ve had the fortune to hear – a remarkable take on So Long, Farewell from The Sound of Music, Tundra was brilliant, all told, and the perfect start to the evening.
Hot Chip arrived on stage eccentrically dressed as per usual, frontman Alexis Taylor and co-founder Joe Goddard looking like, respectively, a chemistry technician and a maths teacher on mufti day. In keeping with their look, it is fair to say that it is their status as technicians of sorts, rather than musicians, on which much of their performance is based.
Nobody in Hot Chip has a singing voice to rival the best, nor is there a guitar hero waiting to leap out from their ranks to stun the crowd. Their strength is in bringing numerous high-energy synthesisers, beats and guitar lines together in an extended high for everyone present, accompanied by a colourful display incorporating strobe lighting and huge balloons (the latter thrown off the balcony during mid-set favourite Over and Over).
Drawing mostly from this year’s Made in the Dark, Hot Chip opened with One Pure Thought and breathless, extended versions of Bendable Poseable, Shake a Fist and Boy From School. In the high-octane main portion of the set, only new track Alley Cats offered respite. The euphoria returned immediately after, though, with every song a stomping highlight until the band left the stage after Hold On and Ready for the Floor.
In keeping with their look, it is fair to say that it is their status as technicians of sorts, rather than musicians, on which much of their performance is based.
The encore brought the pace right down until No Fit State slowly built to a pulsing climax. The night finished with a celebration of Goddard’s love of Prince, a sing-along cover of Nothing Compares 2 U segueing into Made in the Dark’s finest ballad, In the Privacy of Our Love. Lighters were raised aloft, and arms swayed in the air, as the audience had time to reflect on what had been the most entertaining of gigs.
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