“You don’t want to give everyone everything from the start,” were the words of singer Leo Condie prior to tonight’s Stereo show and so for many in the packed out basement it’s a first glimpse into the vivid retro-futurist world of WHITE. Since arriving on the scene last year, the band have stirred curiosities with their mysterious, hyper-circumspect aesthetic, yet if there was a hazard to this approach then surely it would manifest in the live environment when playing to uninitiated audiences. After all, attending gigs when you barely know the words can be no fun.
They need not have feared, however, as judging by the crowd reaction, it’s as if WHITE have been on the scene for years. From the back of the venue they might cut a classic 80’s tableau, but over the course of 40 minutes prove that there’s much more to them than mere pastiche. Setting out their stall with the aptly named ‘One Night Stand Forever’, Condie immediately seizes the crowd with his quivering falsetto and coquettish turn of phrase before turning up the heat with an early run through of debut single ‘Living Fiction’. Demonstrative of a rockier edge is ‘Anonymous Acts’ as guitarists Hamish Fingland and Chris Potter bat off some razor-sharp dual guitar interplay which eventually leads into a frantic solo breakdown. Throughout, drummer Kirstin Lynn anchors the tempo from behind her hybrid digital kit, effortlessly segueing from the machine gun hi-hats of ‘Future Pleasures’ to the insouciant rhythms of ‘Private Lives’, while closing track ‘Blush’ is the type of floor-filling dance-punk which evokes The Rapture when they were at their very best.
Rarely does a new band pique interest like WHITE have done in recent months, a feat evidenced by the age demographic in attendance at tonight’s show. It’s inarguable that the band draw heavy from the 70s and 80s, but rather than revisionism, they have succeeded in crafting it into something idiosyncratic and truly their own. WHITE may not be giving everyone everything from the start, but it’s testament to the strength of their live performance that they can still rock packed rooms like this without even having to. The future is tonight indeed.
WHITE played:
One Night Stand Forever
Be The Unknown
Living Fiction
REC TV
How Can You Get Love So Wrong
Future Pleasures
Anonymous Acts
Private Lives
Blush
