Whitest Boy Alive & special guests Rubies

Even in Brighton, there’s not much going on that can entice me out on a Monday night now I have the Real World to contend with on Tuesday mornings, but German band Whitest Boy Alive, playing one of two UK gigs on their European tour provide an exception to this rule.

In the Eagle for a pre-gig beverage, we notice the What’s On guide describes the band as “tipped to be one of the biggest bands of 2008″ and contemplate whether the evening will prove worthy of this high praise. For me, it is an intriguing prospect to see a artist as diversely talented as front man Erlend Øye perform live in any context.

The support band isn’t listed anywhere, so we have no idea what to accept when Rubies take to the stage. They are Simone Rubi on lead vocals/synthesizer/electric piano, bassist/vocalist Terri Loewenthal, Nicolas Dobbratz on guitar/vocals and drummer Øyvind Skarbø.

At first glance they seem to be from among the new breed of musicians who are demonstrating that “pop” does not have to mean a manufactured reality TV embarrassment. Artists like Feist and Rilo Kiley have received much coverage in the press lately, touted as shining lights of this reborn genre and paving the way for up and coming bands. I am unsurprised, on reading the bio on Rubies’ website the next day, to discover the musical links between Simone Rubi, Leslie Feist and Eirik Glambek-Bøe (best known for his work with Erlend Øye as folk duo Kings of Convenience
).

A positive reception from the crowd helped the band gain some confidence up by the 4th track, “I Feel Electric”, the upcoming single from their newly released album Explode From The Centre. This makes me think of MGMT, who as it happens are playing a sellout gig up the road at Digital tonight, but that may be down to the similarity in song titling rather than any actual musical link. Or maybe not: I am trying to put my finger on who else they remind me of, and Metric is what comes to mind, but not everyone agrees.

The set gets even better towards the end.

We all agree that for an unknown support band, Rubies are outstanding. They give a refreshingly under-polished performance and in contrast to so many of the poseurs, shoegazers and asymmetrically fringed wannabies that feature in today’s up and coming bands they actually look like they’re enjoying themselves.

They are joined on stage by members of Whitest Boy Alive for the last few songs. The crowd feeds off this, by now they are actually dancing – something of an achievement for a Monday night. The atmosphere is only slightly tainted by the overzealous security woman who reminds me of mini me from Austin Powers. She even tells off the Whitest Boy Alive frontman when he leans over to ask her to lay off the fans dancing in the front row. The remainder of the band comprises bassist Marcin Öz, Daniel Nentwig on electric piano/synthesizer and drummer Sebastian Maschat. Based in Berlin, they have been playing together since 2003, although all the members have past or present involvement in other musical projects.

Erlend Øye on guitar and vocals holds court over the crowd. They open with a few tracks I don’t recognise, followed by Golden Cage from their recent album Dreams, released in the UK in 2007. The band have great stage presence without being over the top: There are no pretensions about them. As a big fan of his earlier work as half of Norwegian folk duo Kings of Convenience, I find myself focussing on Erlend more than the others. It is not a chilled out acoustic type set tonight, but in contrast to most bands, he plays with absolute serenity on his face. They play Inflation, and follow this with a bit of improv during which we hear Erlend’s comments on touring Belgium. It may be sacrilege to say so, but this reminds me of Jeff Buckley’s interaction with the crowd, immortalised on Live at L’Olympia.

Whitest Boy Alive are more energetic live than I was expecting and this is no bad thing – they have a rare talent for excellence in both studio recordings and live shows, but in different ways. The recorded version is understated, minimalist but perfectly formed; where their live performance is passionate, outspoken and yet precisely executed. Perhaps towards the back the audience is more chilled, but from where I’m standing at the front, this could have been a Saturday night crowd. The enthusiasm from a few hardcore fans at the front seems to have spread, or perhaps they’re all just really wasted. I wish it wasn’t a bloody Monday night so I could join them. Next up a cover of “Show Me Love” – an improvement on the original in my book.

It occurs to me that its out of the ordinary to see a set from a guitar based band with no gaps between the tracks – the set seems to move along really quickly without a round of applause every 3 minutes and this makes a welcome change. Perhaps this harks back to the band’s DJ backgrounds or perhaps they are accomplished enough musicians to not require constant ego massage from an audience.

Next up they play my favourite track from Dreams – “Don’t Give Up”. For me this is one of the places in this album where Øye’s talent as a lyricist which is so evident in his Kings of Convenience work shines through most brightly. It’s a shame that a technical fault curtails this rendition but the crowd is forgiving. Whilst the guitarist’s amp undergoes emergency repairs, Daniel Nentwig on piano plays something I don’t recognise, accompanied by impromptu vocals from Øye. This leads seemlessly into Above You – as well as providing lead vocals and guitar it seems like Erlend Øye is also conducting – the rest of the band seem to read his thoughts. He invites Rubies back on stage for the last few songs. Another well chosen cover – Stardust’s Music Sounds Better With You – and an epic 10 minute encore completes the set on a high note.

I was amused to note the selection of Ace of Base’s “All That She Wants” as the first tune after the set finished – something of a hark back to the bad eighties nights that used to be hosted at The Beach before its recent refurb and rebrand as Coalition. On that note, it is refreshing to see that Brighton’s club owners and managers are taking note that what the city needs is not more eighties revival/student cheese/shant rnb nights. Although it’s reputation for live music is yet to be established, Coalition as a venue has the potential to fill a gap in the Brighton market for a live venue size that sits between the Concorde/Komedia at one end of the spectrum and smaller pub venues at the other.

Photography by Eliot Gill. Do you need a photographer for your event? Please contact 07804259916 or email mrichter@brightonfusion.co.uk

Words: The Marror Stuffer