CityLife

La Roux

La Roux
Academy 1
May 11, 2010

Tipped at the start of 2009 as a contender for success, La Roux have since been pitted against the shiny Little Boots, the magnificent Florence And The Machine and the Starry Eyed newcomer Ellie Goulding.

Elly Jackson's glorious quiff of red hair – long before Jedward bounded onto the scene - and high pitched, sometimes shrill tones certainly aren't for everyone.

But La Roux's irresistible 80s and 90s influenced killer pop songs quickly burrowed their way into the hearts of the nation.

The magnetic Tigerlily - featuring a Vincent Price-a-like spoken word interlude – opened the show, which had a neon-lit set that looked like Top of the Pops 1984.

The tinny I'm Not Your Toy and the cool, dreamy Colourless Colour alluded to The Human League, and particularly on the euphoric chorus of Fascination belted out by Elly in a fetching Elvis-style white jacket with black lapels.

For In For The Kill, which landed La Roux with a massive chart hit especially due to the popularity of the Scream Let's Get Ravey Mix, she urged the audience to be 'Madchester' the home of rave and 'get raving'.

And the queen of the quiff was back with another jacket change – this time a gold MC Hammer-style look – for the bouncy, candy floss coated Bulletproof, with a snarl from Elly that she's 'been there, done that, messed around'.

Establishing themselves as one of our most exciting pop acts, Elly and her band proved that everything is still looking rosy for LA Roux with their Golden Tour, which spent its last night in Manchester.

And special mention must go to I Blame Coco – Sting and Trudie Styler's daughter Coco Sumner – who was a compellingly excellent warm-up act and I sincerely hope that she sticks to her promise to return to the city with her swaggering, powerful pop-rock.

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