LET’S GO THE DISTANCE
Throw your dancing shoes on, whip out those awkward bumblebee sunnies, rock that retro perm and let’s disco with San Cisco! No more waiting for the weekend, for the weekend is now here. Tonight, these wild things are bustin’ an old-school magic groove, proving that these kids are cool still, as they do their thang in super slow slo-mo, and go the distance.
Let’s par-tay! ….which glittery dress do I wear?
After settling on a dress with the perfect balance on classy and slutty, I’ve shimmied my way to the front on this dancefloor to join the charged up high-spirited crowd, ready to boogie as a synth-based auramatic intro, filled with anticipation starts as the band walk out on stage here at “The Beery” …...side note... seriously people, how the hell did you get ‘The Beery’ from Florida Beach Bar???
The band start this party off with ‘Did You Get What You Came For?’ off their latest album, followed by ‘SloMo’. The first of these two grooves is very strong in the 90’s synth-pop force, and as clear as Jordi’s lead male vocals are which is always a relief, the over-all sound isn’t as loud as I would’ve expected, and is very focused on vocals, synthesisers/keyboards and drums. On top of this, there’s not a lot of movement on stage to catch my limited sight, which may be due to the may-be faulty sound mix making the band struggle with their sound, or the fact that the audience hasn’t started shakin’ a tail feather yet, or perhaps, the fact that the band aren’t overly energetic is what’s causing the lack of energy in the audience? We now reach the songs’ bridge section, which features a crowd-pleasing guitar solo to help get the crowd moving, but still, this isn’t the big bold kick-off song I normally expect at a show… wait for it…
Next, ‘SloMo’ is far from it, with it’s up-beat tempo, that the catchy-as-funk vocal melodies in the chorus and the attention-grabbing guitar riff dances on. It’s great that the guitarist gets its’ turn in the the spotlight and shine brightly as they rightly should, and this songs’ classic disco-anthem vibe is extremely colourful like a mirror ball reflecting all the psychedelic lights, and easy to get down to and get my slut on, I mean, dance on. This does prompt the crowd to start drearily bopping and singing along, but the energy is still quite withdrawn.
The band now say a quick hello and thank you to the audience before the next swagger of songs ‘About You’, ‘Beach’, ‘Magic’ and touring track ‘The Distance’. ‘About You’ features a far more chilled-out vibe with calm honest female-lead vocals, with hook melodies in the chorus that get stuck in your head….. Or at least it sounds like female vocals…. If that is still you Jordi, my bad, and well, take it as a compliment, you’re pulling off a chick’s voice too! The fact that people are singing along more attentively now indicates that this is a fan favourite and is further drawing peoples’ attention which is good, but the absence of musical and on-stage energy doesn’t raise the nights’ vibe sufficiently at this point…. Wait for it….
The energy on stage starts creeping up at last in ‘Beach’, with Jennifer now on keys grooving away judging by the blurry shape of wild curly hair moving around, and the/a guitarist (Jordi?) starting to bust a noticeable move, closer to the front. The atmosphere in the venue is changed to a high-school prom/formal dance feel with a chorus of girly sing alongs, like in that movie, you know, that movie with the daggy high-school prom. (you mean every soppy teenage romances ever made?) exactly! As cheesy as this vibe is, Jordi is showing off some sparkly vocals full of diversity, with both crisp highs and smooth lows.
After the musical and audience’s energy is dropped in ‘Magic’ despite more on-stage energy from the band, with seductive retro-funk female lead vocals. (I’m quite certain this time they’re female). These vocals build up to an even more seductive vocal hook at the songs’ end, Jordi now says hi and asks how we’re all doing, and spruces up the positivity with a quick engaging chat to raise the energy for ‘The Distance’. ‘The Distance’ raises the energy nicely after that half-time rev up from Jordi, dual male/female vocals and smooth walking bass lines, now people are starting to get their groove on and I can finally unleash my super-dorky moves in this hyped up crowd!
For the rest of this night of getting my slut on, I mean, dance on the band serve up more tasty retro treats like ‘Awkward’ (how I’m feeling as I try and sing along to the incredibly infectious vocal hook, and sadly fail) but ‘Hey Did I Do You Wrong?’ really? Well, if so let’s ‘Wash It All Away’ with loads more energy which is climaxing to sweaty levels, as ‘That Boy’ on stage continues to fire us all up as he totally shows me up with his disco dance moves! All these songs are filled with unique disco-synth vibes that are highly uplifting and get the crowd moving and jumping to the point where it’s starting to resemble an actual mosh-pit which, side note, thank god I have the barrier to hold on to, because the floor is EXTREMELY slippery due to sweat and spilt drinks and would be rather tricky for even patrons with full range of vision. But, all good things must come to an end, after the band engage us more and share quick stories between songs, they now announce that this is the last song. The lucky last song tonight is ‘Fred Astaire’ with its up-beat shakin’ verses, and slow nostalgic choruses and the guitarist to my left (again, quite possibly Jordi) party-rockin’ out up close on stage, and regardless of the band having to pause the song to check if someone in the audience who obviously was injured was alright (slipped on the dangerously wet floor maybe?) this song ends the night on a high!
You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here….. Just kidding, there’s an encore. The band give in to the intoxicated roars from the crowd demanding an encore and give us two more songs ‘Run’ and fan favourite ‘Too Much Time Together’ thus capping the energy off with a band and making the crowd go wild and jump/get their slut on more fiercely than previously!
Now for the hardest part of the night, coming down from the hype of energy, coming home and slipping off those heels exposing blistered feet, scrubbing off mascara and getting out of that sparkly classy/slutty dress and looking back on the night I just had, and my god, I can imagine that would be a right pain in the ass if I weren’t pulling your leg and were actually wearing that sparkly dress. (which I could totally pull off btw)
It took a little while for the show to creep up and get everyone energised and draw their attention, and the mix of sound seemed a little unsure, but when it picked up it really picked up and was a truly fun retro disco vibed night in the end, filled with anthemic hooks and infectious vocals and synthesiser melodies!