Monday, 4/7/97
Punk, Pimps live up to hype in concert
Electronica, Brit-hop bands dazzle crowd with both fast, slow
jams
By Trinh Bui
Daily Bruin Contributor
Daft Punk and the Sneaker Pimps, two of Europe’s biggest buzz
bands, rolled into town Thursday night and gave a musical sampling
of the two latest crazes to hit the industry, electronica and
Brit-hop (guitar driven trip-hop). The co-headliners packed the
House of Blues, whose audience was eagerly anticipating a great
show and weren’t disappointed.
The evening started off with a synthesized bang as the Daft Punk
duo, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, bombarded
the club with their unique blend of techno/funk tunes. To say that
Punk performed would be misleading, since they didn’t even touch
the stage. Instead, these tight-lipped Frenchmen hid quietly behind
the DJ booth spinning and scratching away. Punk represents the
electronica half of the show. With their addictive 100-plus
beats-per-minute sound, Punk falls under the category of hot
up-and-comers in the world of electronica with the likes of the
Chemical Brothers and Prodigy. Thursday’s concert solidified their
place among those bands.
Punk’s hour-long set consisted of an amalgamation of
stripped-down jungle beats, techno speed and heavy funk bass. The
music was loud and hard with some of the deepest bass to blast out
of the speaker systems all night. Punk’s set list included
surprisingly little of the material off their debut album,
"Homework." They opted to play more unfamiliar stuff, as well as
some free-style spinning.
But not to disappoint the fans, Punk did spin some familiar
stuff off the new album. "Revolution 909" got the hip audience’s
bodies shaking and moving around with an infectious throbbing bass
line. The show really picked up steam after Punk performed their
radio hit "Da Funk." With that now famous electronic meowing hook
and a combination of bass and speedy, repetitious beats, this
catchy gem of a song set the tone for the remainder of the night
and got the club jumping. Since Punk is light on vocals, they
relied solely on their creative, manic music to keep the bodies
moving and grooving on the dance floor.
As Punk winded down their half of the show with an intensive
mixing and scratching session, the crowd was thoroughly into the
concert mood. When the last remnants of Punk music faded away, the
lights immediately darkened and the curtain went up as the Sneaker
Pimps took the stage.
The Pimps are the antithesis to Daft Punk. Unlike Punk’s
penchant for rapid and intense noise, the Pimps lean more to
trip-hop’s traditionally slow beats. Fusing trip-hop and folksy
rock, the Pimps create a mellow and relaxing sound more suitable
for an easy sway rather than heavy head-banging.
They opened up their set with a nice slow ditty to ease the
crowd back down from the stratosphere that Daft Punk took them to.
As the opener ended, the people began to plug up the gaps on the
floor just in time for one of the Pimps’ better songs, "Tesko
Suicide." A dark and eerie song about buying suicide kits, "Tesko
Suicide" skillfully combines drums and guitars with hollow ambient
tracks. Lead singer Kelli Dayton’s playfully sneering vocals added
a dreamlike quality to the song.
Playing for the crowd, the Pimps often changed moods from song
to song, offering the attentive audience a taste of their musical
diversity. The biggest crowd pleaser of the night was definitely "6
Underground," their breakthrough single off the album "Becoming X."
Dayton’s voice transformed into a sugar-coated whisper for the
song. The easygoing melodies of "6 Underground" had all the heads
in the club moving back and forth. Finishing off the show, the
pimps performed the brooding anthem "Post-Modern Sleaze," complete
with acoustic guitar and drawn-out aching vocals.
Throughout the entire show, the Pimps played with a cool
confidence that could never be mistaken for pompous swagger.
Dayton, decked out in a leather halter top with a big shiny
sheriff’s badge and a black shaggy miniskirt, was as provocative as
the music. Their calm demeanor and amiable stage presence lifts the
Pimps to a higher level than other British bands. If this show was
any indication of the new breed of electronica and Brit-hop
musicians, then there will be plenty of good music coming in the
near future.Virgin Records
Daft Punk’s appeal at the House of Blues on Thursday was easy to
recognize.
Virgin Records
Liam Howe, Kelli Dayton and Chris Corner of the Sneaker Pimps
wowed the House of Blues with their blend of trip-hop and rock.