At its core, Ladyhawke‘s music is edgy pop that demands its listeners sing and dance along. On Monday night, the crowd at Rock and Roll Hotel willingly complied.
When Pip Brown, the artist behind Ladyhawke, walked on stage, the first thought that crossed my mind was that it must be a prerequisite to have long, beautiful hair to be a member of her band. Surrounded by her four male bandmates – “the boys,” as she has referred to them – Pip took the stage and proceeded to play a show inspiring enough excitement that most of the audience seemed to forget it was a Monday night.
As she warned the audience from the outset, her show consisted of “mostly new stuff, and heaps of old stuff.” She played all but two songs on the newly-released Anxiety, and just as many from Ladyhawke, her 2008 debut.
Performed live, most of the songs seemed to stick to the formula of the album, with guitar riffs or a tambourine added here and there. But for those of us who have never seen Ladyhawke live, the addition of the band, who have been touring with Pip for several years, rounded out the performance in an unexpected way.
Even the more electronic and dance oriented tracks on the albums sounded rougher and closer to true rock and roll. The crowd, many of whom clearly knew her self-titled debut inside and out, at first seemed unsure how to handle this edgier side of Ladyhawke.
She kicked the show off with an older number, “Back of the Van,” while the next three songs came from Anxiety. Most of the band harmonized together on “Blue Eyes,” and later played a darker rendition of “Anxiety” that seemed to better convey meaning of the song.
Thirty minutes into the set, as she belted out “Black White and Blue” off of Anxiety, the audience finally seemed to grasp what Ladyhawke was trying to do with her live sound – even if Pip and the band knew all along.
Pip’s banter with the crowd was minimal, with most song breaks consisted of nothing more than a quick “Thank you!” for the applause and a sip from her Corona. But her fans didn’t seem to mind. Dressed in black baggy pants and an old Bryan Adams t-shirt with her blonde hair nearly concealing her eyes, Pips’s New Zealand accent further charmed her already-smitten fans.
If Ladyhawke’s goal was to leave us exhausted, satisfied, and still wanting more, Pip could not have planned a better ending than the final three songs of the set. Earlier in the show, an audience member requested her early hit, “Paris is Burning.” Pip assured us it was coming up later – and finally, here it was. The audience immediately started singing and dancing along, and managed an impressive amount of unprompted but coordinated fist pumping along to the music.
Pip had also promised that a cover was on its way. As we recovered from “Paris is Burning,” the lights transitioned to a dim blue and the band launched into a breathy, haunting rendition of Jefferson Airplane‘s “White Rabbit.” Perhaps more than any other point in the show, I could hear the full range of Pip’s rock and grunge background surface as the song intensified. Despite the ’80s influence usually associated with her music, this cover proved that her range as a musician extends beyond just dance and pop.
Then, announcing her final song of the night, Pip told us, “This song is for all of you who came out tonight. Someone told me it was football season and people don’t come out during football season – so this is for you.” With that dedication, she launched into “My Delirium,” the biggest single off of her debut album. And, as the saying goes, the crowd went wild. Rock and Roll Hotel turned into a happy dance party, the crowd hanging onto every beat and every lyric.
And with that, it was over – actually over. This was my first show in recent memory where the main act didn’t come back for an encore. But with a set ending like that, what would have been the point? There was nothing left for her to prove.
A series of openers prepped the crowd for Ladyhawke, starting with a DJ set from DC-based Lightwaves. Next up was another District resident, Bernard Farley’s solo project Outputmessage. Farley, who is also a member of local band Volta Bureau, played a combination of electro, funk and house music; his slick dance moves and bomber jacket got the crowd going as much as his deep voice and upbeat tunes.
Computer Magic, aka Danz, rounded out the openers. Hailing from upstate New York, she looked like a cross between a Swedish milkmaid and a 90s hipster, floral dress and denim jacket included. Her music, often described as ethereal or dreamy electronic pop music from what I’ve read, received a welcome boost of energy from her onstage drummer.
By the end of her short set, the audience seemed to be convinced – and so was I. I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on her in the future.
All photos: Steve VanSickle
