Review: Ladytron at Harbourfront (July 4)

Ah, summer. Warm weather, ice cream, not having to wear underwear. It's my favourite time of year! And what makes it even better is free concerts at Harbourfront. Ladytron performed last night at 9:30 on the Sirius Stage as part of the Beats, Breaks and Culture series. Ladytron are a boy/girl electro quartet based out of Liverpool. The band's been around for about 10 years, and consists of Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo sharing vocal duties and playing the keyboard, Daniel Hunt on guitar and Reuben Wu doing programming and keyboards. The band mostly played songs off their new album Velocifero, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2005 album Witching Hour. They're a terrific live act and pretty cute too! As with any free concert, you had to get there early. Otherwise you were angling for a good view from waaaaaay back and shoving your way through the throngs of teens crowding the aisles. And what’s a free outdoor concert without the stench of pot filling the air? Ugh. Some of the standout songs during the performance were Playgirl, Runaway and Black Cat. Even the casual fan couldn’t help but get sucked in by the catchy dance-worthy beats that Ladytron had to offer. In a recent interview in EWeekly, Daniel Hunt commented that the band was eager to take the songs of Velocifero on the road - and that was obvious at last night's performance. Energetic and engaging, Ladytron delivered like they were playing for paying concert-goers at a 10,000 + seat auditorium. Me likey.

XOXO

Blair