The silhouette of the magnificent quiff taped to one of the many keyboards on stage at The Academy suggests that Morrissey may be playing here tonight. Then again, the crowd gathered don’t really look like Moz fans; it’s an overwhelmingly young audience, but it’s easy to forget that the person we’re all here to see is still only 21.
The lights go down and the LCD display behind the stage flashes ‘LA ROUX’. As the opening bars to album standout ‘Tigerlily’ ring out, a three-piece band take the stage (the other half of La Roux, Ben Langmaid, doesn’t tour), followed by Elly Jackson herself – sporting more of pyramid-style ‘do than her trademark gelled quiff.
It’s a slightly wobbly opener; Jackson’s vocals sound strangely exposed, and even the song’s Thriller/Vincent Price-style interlude leaves the crowd lukewarm. There’s no doubt that these songs would sound better with the reinforcement of the sturdy backing vocals and harmonies that are on the album, and nerves initially seem to play a big part. Once she’s disposed of several of the album’s big hitters, however – ‘Quicksand’ and ‘I’m Not Your Toy’ are particularly joyous – she’s sufficiently buoyed by the crowd, and her strangely nasal, crystalline falsetto settles and improves. ‘In for the Kill’ goes down a treat, the less frantic tracks (‘Growing Pains’, ‘Cover My Eyes’) less so – but all is rectified with a stomping set closer. “I think you know what’s coming next,” the singer says, before launching into ‘Bulletproof’, the exuberant crowd screaming every word back at her. They may have divided opinion like few artists have this year, but there’s no doubt that La Roux have the tunes. The show? Good, and will get better.