La Roux's Elly Jackson
I’m going to be absolutely honest that I was a bit of a grump heading in to last night’s La Roux show at the Wonder Ballroom so my complaints may be tainted by that. However, the sound was grnad and it was quite a decent show, despite my ill health and lost sweatshirt.
Opening band The Lovers provided the perfect ethereal intro to get the crowd amped. At once calming and energizing Lovers are similar enough to the headliners to fit in the show while different enough to be interesting.
When La Roux did take the stage lead singer Elly Jackson paraded proudly with her crimson coiffure and even proclaimed Portland more fun than Cali. Her voice was as sweet and skillful as usual but without the kind of heart one wish from a live show. For better or worse, the produced sound that came from the Wonder was incredibly clean but this polish also disguised a bit of the live experience. It sounded exactly like the album.
Indeed, because their catalog is so small it didn’t feel much different than listening to the album in the car. There was only one track that I did not recognize and I have to admit I was a bit disappointed that there was so littler new material.
Luckily, I enjoy all the current material and the crowd was most certainly energized. It made for a pleasant and worthwhile evening.
