Last night I went to see the interestingly-named German band The Whitest Boy Alive at Koko (that’s the Camden Palace to anyone not 16). I had heard of the band, but had actually got them confused Black Kids (does this make me racist or just stupid?) My friend had a free ticket due to her male friends dropping out because of the football zzzzzz) So I went along for instead. My friend’s friend (who was black and also a last-minute recruit) cracked me up when she heard the name of the band and went ‘Am I going to be lynched?’
Luckily, the band turned out not to be Nazi death-metal, but had a jazzy/ techno vibe going on instead. I know, that sounds worse. But actually it wasn’t too bad. I thought they sounded a bit like Air in parts.
Koko was rammed, so people really like this stuff, but it lacked the punch of a real gig for me. I wanted some screaming, or at least some sweating. The closest we got was a cover of some old 90s trance song (the name has eluded me because my friend’s dad had bought me five vodkas by that point). I think the band were competent musicians but it all had a bit of a soft porn vibe for me.
The encore appeared to be a cover of ‘It’s gonna be a lovely day’ or whatever that song is called, so I think you’re getting an idea of the tone of the gig now- word of the night was mellow. I think my friends dad summed it up best when he said, ‘you might as well stay at home and listen to it on the radio.’ It’s true, the visuals weren’t brilliant, some afro-ed Germans and that was about it. They weren’t exactly showmen.
Having said ALL of this, I was utterly in the minority, my friend (and her friend who’d never heard of them before) absolutely loved it and were dancing the night away playing air-bass (!). A good time was had by all- even (begrudgingly) me.
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