Hot Hot Hot Chip!

It's been about 36 hours since I left the Commodore Ballroom with Hot Chip ringing in my ears. They're still ringing in my ears and I suppose it won't stop for a long time. Today I woke up and decided to play their new album. It just wasn't the same. Once you see Hot Chip live, the albums simply don't suffice.

My first experience with Hot Chip was at Coachella 2007. I walked into the Mohave Tent not knowing what I was about to experience and was soon immersed in a crowd that was dancing and jumping to And I Was a Boy From School. The entire place was vibrating and I remember forgetting for a second that we were in the middle of a desert, at 40 degrees Celsius. I walked out of the tent as a fan.

When their new Made in the Dark album came out I thought...well, it's a little less catchy and much more romantic. It even has some tints of R&B (just listen to "We're Looking for a Lot of Love" or to "Wrestlers") and a love ballad that could make Bono cry ("Made in the Dark"). The differences between songs are even confusing. As I looked at my ticket for the concert I wondered how on earth they would keep the live Hot Chip sound that I remembered. I predicted the concert would disappoint me.

Fortunately, I was wrong...very wrong. Hot Chip is hotter than ever and their live act is simply perfect! Once the lights went out and the first sampler was fired up, there was nothing but dancing on the wooden floor of the Commodore. The venue is amazing because it is intimate and comfortable, and Hot Chip proved to be masters in crowd control: they delivered three fully pumped dance songs and then let us rest with a slow romantic song... then they took it up a notch with new songs, gave us another rest, and finally exploded in endless loops of "I'm in no fit state, I'm in no fit state..." The crowd was in total rapture!

In contrast to their previous show, this time the concert was much more about love. They integrated their new romantic songs perfectly into their high adrenaline dance show and played with our full range of emotions. Couples shifted from dancing to hugging to dancing to jumping and then Over and Over like a monkey with a miniature cymbal. After this tremendous sweat fest, they singer announced the last song. Silence fell on the dance floor as he took a deep breath. Then the most unexpected of surprises: his voice erupted with "It's been seven hours and fifteen daaays." Yes! The Prince song that drove the brokenhearted world crazy and skyrocketed Sinnead O'Connor to fame. The crowd exploded in chanting and then the band blended-in their new "In the Privacy of Our Love". When the song finished and the lights came up, all I could see were smiles and general feeling of satisfaction. But any written description pales in comparison to the visual evidence:




And another one just to give you a feel of the energy that night: