THE KNIFE (London Roundhouse, 09/05/13)


For years, The Knife had resided near the top of my bucket list of bands I want to see before I die, but having read recent reviews of their “Shaking The Habitual Tour”, I'd tempered my expectations quite dramatically. “Worst show ever”, said some. “A sixth form liberal arts performance,” said others. “Riverdance for cunts,” exclaimed one particularly forthright member of the Twitterati. And you know what- I can understand those points of view. It wasn't a live gig as such. It was a bunch of people in shiny costumes, dancing to mostly prerecorded backing tracks, with some pretty funky lighting. And I enjoyed it greatly.

If I'd been standing further back, or hadn't been previously aware of the “unique” nature of the show, I might have had a significantly more negative opinion. But near the barrier, the sound was crisp, clear and loud, the visuals mesmerising (if not as innovative as the Knife think they are), and the atmosphere was decent enough for a London crowd. It had a fair few flaws- it's a shame they didn't make more use of the cool instruments they employed for the first few songs, there's no real excuse for the lack of live vocals, some bits were inarguably lame (when the band left the stage for ten minutes leaving nothing but the backing track, the choreography for “Full of Fire” and the song that immediately followed) and overall, it probably wasn't worth the £30 asking price. But when you're faced with the full might of “Silent Shout” blasting at a gazillion decibels with SPINNING RAINBOW LASERS encompassing their entirety of your vision, its possible to forgive The Knife pretty much anything.