Reykjavík Grapevine - 18.10.2008, Síða 15

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It’s very much a slow start – Gudrun Gut complete-
ly fail to put in the promised appearance which
means that we are left listening to pretty easy
musak. Fortunately, Kap10Kurt is worth the wait;
arriving on the stage looking a little like an Eng-
lish history teacher, he is deceptively brilliant...
banging techno rhythms get everyone moving and
before we know it, people are getting down to the
dirty basslines that he offers up. A constant issue
of this festival is the poor transition between sets;
it’s good to have enough time to move between
venues without feeling that you are missing out
but at the same time, a few decent background
tunes would not go amiss! The other concern is
that, so far, some of the nights have started su-
perbly well but sadly deteriorated into quite bland
mediocrity before picking up again...Fortunately,
this is not one of those nights... Steed Lord throw
themselves into the event with all the theatre that
they are known for. Kali, tiny though she is, looks
beautiful and completely dominates the stage,
whilst DEMA & AC Bananas get the crowd bounc-
ing in time to the filthy beats that they spit out.
The place is half full and everyone wants to dance
to this, hands are in the air, 300 people are bounc-
ing in time, we want more! PNAU look like beach
surfers but drop some heavy tunes that are both
entirely suited to this crowd tonight, and appear
to be beyond their youthful appearance. The visu-
als that accompany the set are amazing but suffer
from being displayed on too small a screen. Wild
Strawberries goes down incredibly; at times it’s
almost hard to believe that they are performing
live. However, as Nick Littlemore begins swinging
from the bars around the stage, it is clear that there
is nothing insubstantial about this band. Crystal
Castles arrive to a venue that is absolutely full to
capacity and ready to let themselves go to their
electro-extravaganza. Opening with ‘Courtship
Dating’, Alice Glass’s voice is astoundingly clear
and capable of hitting notes normally only audible
to dogs. Despite some technical hitches, they raise
the bar of the evening and by the time they wind
up, the place is completely jumping and wanting
more.The ½ hour of bland, barely audible inter-
mittence between CC and Yelle is no deterrence
to the mood of this bunch of party people. They
have been swaying rhythmically since Crystal Cas-
tles left and as soon as Gerry & Christian appear,
arms are thrust upwards and they are ready to go.
After an immense set, the crowd are unwilling to
let them go, but finally after offering up Je Veux
Te Voir, they make themselves leave. Wow, what a
truly banging night. heAther roseMAry hArrison
PhilliP
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