AXIS|OF|LIVE

My live experience with Ladytron begins with Franz Ferdinand, a band I'm fairly obsessed with, to the point that I might start foaming at the mouth if you show me photos of them. Back in April, I had a ticket in my hot little hand to see Ladytron at Irving Plaza, but the two nights preceding were meant to be spent at the Hammerstein Ballroom, watching Franz Ferdinand rock the house inside out. "Unfortunate Timing" might as well be my middle names, because I caught a strand of influenza that week that played out like the plague and being the trooper I am, I went to both Franz shows, a sneezy, mucusy mess. I did not see my beloved Ladytron. This time, I was there, front and left of center. And it was pretty effing awesome.

But oh, how I wish I'd brought my camera. Mostly for the sake of CSS, who were so much fun, they hardly seemed worthy of the title of "opening band." All dressed in clothes that were so geeky and out of style, they went back around to being terribly fashionable, the six members took the stage bounding and cheering, and plowed through the tracks of their debut album, Cansei de Ser Sexy. Lead singer Lovefoxxx was an absolute ball of unabashed energy, charming the crowd with her mad "choreography" skills and spitting water into the air in time with the beat. She also shed various clothes during the set, ending up in gold pants and a very large t-shirt which she pulled over her head and sang through repeatedly. They began with "CSS Suxxx" and highlights included "Meeting Paris Hilton," "Alala," "Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex" (their "R&B song"), and closer "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above." As the first slamming beats of "Art Bitch" began, Lovefoxxx declared, "This floor is a dancefloor!" and careened down into the crowd, making good on her promise and turning the floor into her bitch. I definitely want to see them again, next time with a camera. 

There was a lull as they cleaned up the small mess CSS made and replaced it with Ladytron's very tidy set-up of multiple keyboards and synths, and a big drumkit in the middle. A very strange audio-visual moment occurred before they took the stage, with a weird folky song playing while the screen in the background went from static to red and white lines of flashing dots. Then the band appeared and all was forgotten as they launched immediately into "High Rise," a great opening number if ever there was. We were standing very close to Mira against the barrier, which was lovely, considering she's such a pretty sight. It was also Helen's birthday and she looked the perfect goth birthday girl in a flowy black dress and cute ankle boots. Both girls have a flair for footwear, I'm telling you. They mostly played songs from their latest LP, Witching Hour, but also delved into previous albums Light & Magic and 604, which made me very happy.

Ladytron is probably one of my top ten bands right now, and though I'd been told their live show was rather stiff and lackluster, I really enjoyed myself. Helen kinda rocked out and Mira was shuffling around now and then and working her groove, though every time she did, she knocked over her water. She looked a little embarrassed, but she was smiling. I could just tell she was thinking, "Boy, I'm never doing that again." The show was also made great by the very cool crowd which was full of RAVERS! I'm excited at the prospect of rave coming back, it's very thrilling. The first two rows of people there were rather immobile and then there was a big section of people getting their freak on, then stiff bodies again. The ravers had a blast, even if their cries for "This Is Our Sound" went unheeded. At the end of the encore, one guy exclaimed, "Oh my god, are they gonna play 'Destroy?' Do you think they will?" A tall dude behind me asked mockingly, "Gee, do you think?" I said, "The suspense is killing me." Oh, how we laughed.

These are all the songs I remember hearing during the set, though I'm not sure of the order besides the first and last groups of three:

High Rise, Weekend, Evil, Cracked LCD, He Took Her to a Movie, Soft Power, Discotraxx, AMTV, True Mathematics, Sugar, Blue Jeans, International Dateline, Fighting In Built Up Areas, Seventeen, Playgirl // Encore: The Last One Standing, Destroy Everything You Touch

It should also be noted that during Ladytron's set, CSS crammed into the VIP area closest to the stage and went batshit crazy. CSS is a band that's happy to be alive. Sarah watched them in bewilderment and said, "Why are they so excited? This isn't the first show of the tour, they get to see this every night!" I guess I would be excited if I got to watch Ladytron every night, though I bet the champagne and flailing wildly from the balcony railing adds to the glee factor.