La Roux had them seeing red in San Francisco

April 14, 2010, at the Fillmore

By Jill Tydor
Published: April 17th, 2010 | 2:00pm

The stage was set for a successful show even before La Roux frontwoman Elly Jackson set one black loafered foot into the spotlight at the historic Fillmore concert hall in San Francisco. There was a standing-room-only crowd glammed to the max in bright '80s layered tanks and chunky, heavy jewelry. There was a towering golden backdrop with a gilded Jackson: eyes downcast, iconic faux hawk spiraling upward. And then there was strobe lights. If you didn’t know this was a dance party, you did now.

Jackson’s entrance sealed the deal as she stepped onstage to the rapid beat and synth blanket of “Colorless Color,” and donned a black blazer with white lapels and black pants with sequined racing stripes. Jackson herself, a Tilda Swinton meets David Bowie androgynous stunner, drove the crowd crazy as she hopped rapidly from one hit single to the next with little banter in between.

The other half of La Roux—synth player, co-writer, and co-producer Ben Langmaid—doesn’t perform live with the group, which lends many to mistake Jackson for a solo act. But alongside Jackson for this set was Michael Norris on keyboards, Mickey O’Brien on keyboards and vocals, and William Bowerman on drums, which provided the perfect backdrop to make the show complete.

Together, they plowed through tracks from La Roux's 2009 self-titled debut album (Polydor), capping the show in just under one hour. For the most part, Jackson stayed focused and sang as polished and energetic live as she does recorded. For a brief moment, Jackson allowed herself to get caught up in the wild screams of the crowd, losing her game face and grinning and giggling nervously—and it was this delightful juxtaposition of pop star and awkward adolescent that amped up the energy level present at the Fillmore.

Halfway through the set, Jackson prefaced a cover of the Rolling Stones' “Under My Thumb” by saying that she was not a fan of covers—their rendition of the song happened by mistake. That being said, the take on the classic was anything but a mistake.

It seemed almost ironic that the major demographic in attendance were still in training diapers when La Roux’s synthpop and electropop predecessors like Depeche Mode and Erasure were on their respective career highs. But the music still struck a collective chord and La Roux has done much to make it current and fresh. The concert was a crowd-pleaser, evidenced by the raucous clapping and stomping calls for an encore, which lasted a good three minutes before the band reassembled to play radio hit “Bulletproof.” From the lights to the hair to the dance anthems, San Franciscans left their hearts with La Roux.

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For more photos, visit Venus Zine's Flickr page

La Roux official site

La Roux MySpace page

Polydor Records