live music

Editor's rating

Venue: Concorde 2, Brighton
Gig played: 26 April 2009

The Scot partly responsible for all that silly stripy/holey/non-functional sunglass-wearing business rocks up on Brighton beach in his giant black tour bus. A wave of anticipation follows but can Calvin live up to the hype? Things look promising as Mr Harris arrives on stage to an almighty thumper of a bassline. Hurtling at full speed from the synth-heavy dance of 'Disco Heat' to 'Merrymaking At My Place', Calvin and his band practically glow. It's part dance, part indie, part '80s throwback, and a perfect example of why the DJ has such mass appeal.

But things start to go downhill as Calvin unleashes his instrumentals. Clearly, the talented producer feels the need to show off his healthy repertoire but, unfortunately, the vocal-less tracks get a bit lost in this live scenario.

'Vegas' rectifies things temporarily as Calvin shouts: "I've got my drugs and my stuff and my pills," in Blur-esque tones. Sadly, more instrumental filler falls on deaf ears and large swathes of the audience opt to go to the loo or the bar. All is not lost as 'Acceptable In The 80s' steps in to save the day and the entire crowd joins in for a sing-along.

Ignoring the vibe, Calvin becomes self-indulgent and nerdy with his instrumentals and yet again the crowd loses interest. There's only so much arm-waving, head-shaking and knob-twiddling you can watch, especially on a small stage with little scope for visual excitement.

What started off as an intense, energy-charged show subsides into a sea of instrumental tracks that can't even be saved by chart-topper 'I'm Not Alone'. It's a rollercoaster of a gig, but one that would be much more enjoyable if Mr Harris left the instrumentals to other DJs.

Elle J Small