Poptastic night with Santogold…
21st August 2008
I knew it was going to happen sooner or later and last night the catastrophe struck. Two great acts on at the same time in different venues, what’s an unfit reviewer supposed to do? Well I had been watching the Olympics and decided to go to Santogold first at Liquid Rooms then do a Usain Bolt to Cabaret Voltaire to watch the second half of Das Pop… the challenge is on!
Bursting on to the stage to a packed out Liquid Rooms Santogold was dressed in an outfit, which I can only assume she stole off Krusty the Clown and the cap from Del Boy. It takes a lot to make this look cool but somehow she manages it.
With flawless backing dancers that had me questioning whether they were real or not, this is no ordinary gig in a sweaty club; it was a full-blown show. A creation of music and dance where Santogold, otherwise known as 32 year old Philadelphia born Santi White, stamps and bounces across the stage with her powerfully diverse voice. I felt as though I was in a dance hall far from Edinburgh.
The mixture of noises, from sirens to sounds from planet Zorg make this a most unique and powerful show. All the elements together with flashing strobes, colourful clothes and amazing dance moves made this a big sweaty fun fest.
At one point one of the dancers had to go off with an injury, Santogold wasted no time in getting three members of the audience up on stage to copy the other dancer. The audience exploded cheering the three non-dancers who where amazing rolling and bumping their hips in time.
This was so super fantastic! Santogold has hit on something that everyone will enjoy. It’s the flavour of party and as I looked around not one person in the whole of Liquid Rooms wasn’t smiling!
I was buzzing as I skipped, hopped and jumped all the way to Cabaret Voltaire, bouncing in to catch the second half of Das Pop. I was happily greeted with a cheery upbeat audience already getting into the infectious rhythms of this euro pop dream.
Das Pop is made up of three Belgian’s and one New Zealander who have been together for a decade. They have experimented with different sounds and admit that in the end pop is what works best. Lead singer Bent Van Looy says: “Pop music can change your life.”
Das Pop’s spirited guitar lead pop, defiantly whips you up and you can catch yourself doing a comedy clicky finger dance like your dad!
Their new single, Underground couldn’t be more ready for the charts if it wanted. It’s got everything you need for a great memorable track to grab your hairbrush in front of the mirror, I could pick out exactly who in the audience was considering it. It was most people in there.
Das Pop have moved away from their previous dreamy sound and created this high fiving fantastically upbeat experience, which made my Tuesday night. Between Das Pop and Santogold I had the best night ever and literally jived all the way home.
words: Fiona Gardner
photos: John Sault
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