Arriving at the Corn Exchange fashionably late, as always, pumped up giggers were greeted with a pavement full of cheap fluorescent glow sticks and a totalitarian sign that bared the ominous message: ‘No Glow sticks allowed. All Glow sticks will be confiscated’. Appalled by this restriction of Nu-rave rights, we reluctantly made our way inside to witness the death of Nu-rave.
Inside, however, was a different story; there was obviously no need to worry. A few Scenesters and wanna-be kids were draped in the heighteth of Nu-rave fashion. The hair was big. The jeans were tight. The colours clashed and were from every shade of the rainbow. It was a Nu-rave spectacular.
The bar was empty as Indie kids packed to the front of the venue in the hope that Simon’s sweat may be flicked onto their face as he kicks in ‘Atlantis to Interzone’ with his electrifying guitar riff.
Only a few moments after I secured my JD and lemonade in hand Klaxons took to the stage; received by a roar of applause and girly screams from the vivacious audience.
The familiar bass line of the Kicks Like A Mule cover ‘The Bouncer’ begun to echo around the room, while the audience anticipated the electronic kick in that would send them into a frenzy. When it finally did the crowd began to jump up and down in hysterics, while a few managed to crowd surf to the front in a bid to get closer to their idols.
Following ‘The Bouncer’, lead vocalist Jamie Reynolds apologised to the crowd for it taking them so long to gig in Edinburgh. The band made up for this blip as they clash through their hits ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’, ‘Golden Skans’ and ‘Atlantis to Interzone’. The sound was amazing. With the drums and bass beating against your chest, as clear as if you were the audience in a seedy underground basement. The electronics lived up to Nu-rave expectation; shooting the crowd into uncontrollable dancing, legal highs and profuse sweating.
With most of the album played, it was unclear what the band would pull out to finish the only 40 minute long set. Klaxons delivered though, by bringing out the clear favourite of the night, the cover ‘Not Over Yet’. The cover finished the evening stunningly, as the crowd sung back to the band during a climax-producing break during the song.
No new songs were played to the disappointment of the fans. Is this the end of Nu-rave? Have Klaxons run out of creative energy as they scrape to fill a short set by throwing in and ever-increasing amount of covers? Klaxons may not be winning a Mercury Music prize next year, however, the Nu-rave kids didn’t seem to mind as the youthful crowd left the venue exhausted yet satisfied.
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