Klaxons

Every cloud has a silver-lining. Klaxons may be world-wide superstars now, in the midst of a world tour of festivals stretching as far out as Japan, but they’re not invincible. When bassist/vocalist Jamie Reynolds jumped from the stage at a recent show in Paris, he didn’t travel to infinity; he just hit the crowd with a wallop, and shattered his leg in the process. Bollocks.

So, whilst he sat in hospital with his leg in a cast, the rest of the Klaxons huddled together at Klaxon HQ and considered what next to do. Cancel the whole tour? Forego all that exposure? Nah, get a replacement in instead. So quickly the trained up a Mr Joe Daniels and hastily arranged this gig at the tiny Luminaire in London. So, Jamie breaks his leg – but as a result, 200-odd fans get to experience the most riotious, intimate and god-darn old-fashioned Klaxons gig that they’ve played in, ohhhh, the last eighteen months (as Jamie announces from the stage towards the end).

It’s a wonderful event. Tickets sold on a first-come, first-served basis, there are eager kids queuing from as early as 11.30am. There’s no support bands, just a long wait until they hit the tiny stage just after 10.30, opening with Kicks Like A Mule cover and crowd spark plug, ‘The Bouncer’. Instantly the 14+ crowd kick off, and thus begins an hour of chaotic pleasure.

With their being no divide between stage and the crowd, just one over-worked bouncer at the front, you soon lose track of the number of stage invasions and human pyramids constructed by the people down the front. With every crowd surfer to be chucked onto the stage you wonder if Jamie, who’s relinquished his bass duties but is still singing vocals, sat down in his cast, is going to have his leg re-snapped by a catapulted kid any moment. Wisely, as the set reaches its peak of madness, he retires to a side of the stage where he’s a less likely target.

There’s no surprises in the set, playing the same songs in the same order as they have done every time this review has seen them before – ‘Atlantis To Interzone’ coming in near the start, then ending with the double-whammy of ‘It’s Not Over Yet’ and ‘Four Hoursemen Of The 2012’. From start to finish it’s simply brilliant fun, musically the band are tighter than ever. It’s a fond reminder of the atmosphere that Klaxons are best suited to – a tiny little venue with a disco ball, and no stage divide. “I wish every gig was like this”, says Jamie. So do we.

FUTURE GIGS

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