Flamboyant Detroit funky-rockers Electric Six take to the stage, but it is not the almighty take-over we expect from a headliner. Sure an impact is felt upon arrival but it takes the guys a few songs to get into their flow. By the third song, ‘Devil Nights’ from the 2006 album ‘Senor Smoke’, things are underway and the crowd is becoming connected with the performance. Once the band start playing material from their 2003 hit album ‘Fire’ we are fully engaged, and the show gets better and better.
Brighton’s Concorde 2 is a unique venue because it is so small and intimate that a lot of the lighting rig is actually over the audience. This makes ‘Improper Dancing’ all the more appropriate and for a few minutes this is disco! An intro to Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ is closely followed by ‘Danger! High Voltage!’ It is crowd-pleaser time. The lanterns flash in time with the words “high voltage” as they do in the music video. Singer Dick Valentine (or as his mum calls him, Tyler Spencer) is cool and suave in his delivery. It is a classic tune which they place nicely in the middle of the set. A couple of tracks later and it is time for ‘Gay Bar’. It is the most active we’ve seen the audience tonight, very much a favourite.
Electric Six are not one of those loudmouth bands with members all wanting to talk to the audience; Dick Valentine is clearly the frontman. He leads the band and gains the crowd’s friendship throughout the set. Dick contributes some percussion at the start of the gig but with little impact to the songs and with his back to audience.
The deep bass grooves of ‘Slices of You’ from the album ‘Switzerland’ resemble 1970s/80s disco like Kool & The Gang. It has that sexy swagger to it and a cool funky beat. They play a few tracks from the new album ‘Zodiac’ the band’s seventh studio album; if you like the old stuff you will most certainly like the new. Their sound has progressed but their style is primarily the same. We like that Electric Six still maintain a rocky edge. It is good to stick to your roots, especially when you are a band like Electric Six, who depend very highly on their true followers.
A good line-up of songs with some humorous words from Dicky V to fill the gaps.
Concorde2, December 14th 2010
Words by John Mclean
Photos by Oleg Pulemjotov
www.photogruff.com
