Arthur's Day, Olympia live review
Scissor Sisters, Aloe Blacc and Ed Sheeran do their thing...
Celina Murphy, 23 Sep 2011
For the third year in a row, I have proven that I am bad at Arthur's Day. In 2009, I foolishly passed up the chance to see Tom Jones live at the Brazen Head. In 2010, I missed the countdown and this year, against the advice of everyone I know, I’m entering into Arthur's Day shockingly Guinness-less.
It's not at all extraordinary for me to enjoy a gig sans libation, but in the case of Arthur's Day, where a pint of the black stuff is a mascot, accessory, trophy and rite of passage all in one, it's proving quite the challenge.
"You wouldn't spurn turkey at Christmas," I tell myself, pondering the onstage presence of a ginger Rastafarian (more on that later), but luckily, help is just a fiery redhead and a pleather shirt away.
If anyone can get you into the party mood it's Scissor Sisters. Kicking off with the triumphant 'Laura' and practically trembling with energy, the merry fivesome are flawlessly tight and boundlessly animated. The fact that this year's Arthur's Day has coincided with the band's ten-year anniversary might have something to do with it, but the all-shrieking, all-grinding Scissters are in extremely high spirits tonight. Determined to stop the crowd from nipping out to the loo, they knock out hit after hit, from dirty country jam 'Take Your Mama' to feelgood anthem 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin’’ to Sister Sledge-aping disco number 'Any Which Way'. Cartoonish glambot Ana Matronic is instantly adorable and, while I must stop short of dubbing Jake Shears the ultimate frontman, it's purely because his high energy dance breaks make him more gigolo than band leader. Throw in another couple of bombastic hits and a few genuine laugh-out-loud moments, and this five-piece dynamo are the undoubted hit of the night.
While Scissor Sisters close out the night in typically flamboyant fashion, the task of opening the show lies with smooth operator Aloe Blacc. Name dropping James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Al Green, the gifted Mr. Blacc evokes a little bit of all four; Brown's moves, Wonder's romantic side (see the schmaltzy, but sublime 'You Make Me Smile'), Gaye's cheesecake grin and Green's killer vocal are all present and accounted for. On the setlist this evening are the vintage-sounding 'Good Things', a reggae-infused version of his colossal hit 'I Need A Dollar' and an unlikely cover of The Velvet Underground's 'Femme Fatale'. It's a tough job carrying the soul man torch, but Mr. Blacc does it beautifully.
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