La Roux

Ah, bank holiday Mondays. Most of the time I would be grateful for them - especially the early Mat bank holiday because it means I get a day off if my birthday happens to fall on a Monday. Today however, it has been more of a hindrance than a help.

First off was a trip down to university to pick up some coversheets for my dissertation. Forgetting that it was a bank holiday, I was surprised when I got there and everything was shut. Thankfully I was able to get in with my swipe card because I would have been very annoyed if I had walked all the way down for nothing.

This evening then saw another bank holiday related annoyance. The busses were running a Sunday timetable. I went to see La Roux at the O2 Academy and didn't leave myself enough time to walk there. Thankfully the bus turned up about ten minutes after I arrived at the stop and I got there in plenty of time. That said, there was still a huge queue outside the venue and the time seemed to pass very slowly whilst waiting for the doors to open. There were a couple of promotional O2 people handing out what appear to be oversized bus pass wallets. I have no idea what they could be for so any suggestions are welcome.

The first support act were frankly rubbish. They came on stage and just started playing and it took the crowd a while to realise that they weren't just roadies testing the equipment. They didn't introduce themselves or speak much during their slot. I can't even be bothered to look up who they were because they made so little effort to sell themselves.

The next support band were a lot better. I Blame Coco was the name of the band and the lead singer is Coco Sumner (daughter of Sting). I checked a couple of their songs out before the gig but nothing really took my fancy. After that performance however, I am inclined to go back and have another look. She is a really good front woman, full of energy and the songs were quite catchy, they really got the audience psyched up for La Roux - which is the job of the support band really.

As for the main act - and the reason I got the tickets in the first place - Elly and her band were simply amazing. She far exceeded my expectations right from the start when the curtains were pulled back to reveal a magnificent set. The crowd wasn't as jumpy as I'd have expected but that just gave me more of a chance to get some good photos. I found that the high sensitivity mode on my camera gives some of the best pictures although they are a little grainy because of the high ISO.

I managed to get two videos - Bulletproof and As If By Magic. The sound quality seems to be pretty decent and the images are quite good too. There was one point during the gig that wasn't so great however. About half way through, the band left the stage and Elly got out her acoustic guitar. As much as I love her music, that woman should NEVER be allowed to perform acoustically. It really was quite painful on the ears and thankfully it didn't last very long because it really was unpleasant. It was only one song however and the rest of the band came on stage after that to continue with the set.

If you have a chance, look at some of the other videos taken from this event, it really was an amazing night.