There is no better indicator of a band’s success than an audience member yelling a tipsy “thank you!” to the musicians on stage. This is a much more uncommon occurrence than it seems at first, and it’s exactly what happened last Saturday when Klaxons played the packed Cabaret Juste Pour Rire. What’s more, this happened on two separate occasions — which underlines the kind of fans Klaxons have garnered over the years.
Composed of every kind of music lover, right down to the pogo-ing underage hipster, the audience seemed to reflect the look and ethos of this London-based four piece. Even though Klaxons have by now developed a very specific electro-pop-meets-alternative-rock sound, the band members themselves are a striking medley of every type of musician found in today’s indie rock scene. With the bearded, beer-swiging Jamie Reynolds flanked by the Robert Smith-inspired Simon Taylor-Davis and the baby-faced, slightly androgynous James Righton, Klaxons vocalists alone fit every stereotype and no stereotype at once.
Coming on stage to Rondo Veneziano’s “La Serenissima,” an epic string instrumental, the band took no time to start into one of their new tracks, “Flashover.” This was met with instant enthusiasm from the crowd who were bopping and clapping to their set from song one. They followed this with a few more performances off their newest album Surfing the Void before breaking out into the better-known “Gravity’s Rainbow” off Myths of the Near Future. The audience got rowdier as the band delivered a constant string of dance-pop tracks with brief, but humble stage banter between each song. It’s obviously been a long year for Klaxons, who were definitely showing signs of wear and tear. This, however, did not affect the quality of the show, which is a rare occurrence for most party-happy bands these days. In fact, the musicians’ undying energy even while playing old hits was one of the more interesting aspects of the show. Despite minimal lighting and visual props, Klaxons remained interesting and amusing for the duration of their hour-long set. The only hitch was Reynolds’ slightly croaky voice, which became especially apparent when coupled with Righton’s clear melodic singing.
But a live show is not a studio album, and slight deficiencies like this cannot take away the impressive stage energy and audience chemistry in the cozy St-Laurent venue last weekend.
