Ladytron came to play in Atlanta on Saturday. Audrey and I went along with a couple of friends. It was again a magnificent experience, but was not quite as intense as the last one. The original item on the Variety website I thought read Ladytron with The Faint, but I may have been mistaken. The opening set was done by a strange noise/distortion band, The Crocodiles, they were fun, but a little oddball. After they left, we waited for a while as the tech crew changed the set, and… surprisingly, Ladytron came on. Which was puzzling, since we were expecting them to be the main act… The set was good, it was very similar to the last time, and I shouted and hollered, but they still wouldn’t play Blue Jeans. Tragic I say. Halfway through their set, in the middle of Witching Hour, the sound on the microphones went out, which was a little distressing. I think the audience managed to shout along enough as support through the remainder of the song. It was very odd, as though a hole was punched through the song. For a group that relies so strongly on electronic support, the song changes texture dramatically when a piece is removed. I don’t remember if this was the case last time, but the vocals also seemed to be much more blurred and distorted beneath the rest of the instruments, they lacked that crisp clarity that Ladytron tends to have.

Afterwards, the band leaves, and we waited for half an hour as they got ready for the next act. The doors also opened, and a lot of people who were standing around us actually left. During this time, more people moved to the front, making the crowd denser. It was also a different texture of crowd, more aggressive. Eventually, The Faint came on. I had never heard them before, but the music was pretty interesting, so I am planning on checking them out further. As they played though, the audience convulsed and started banging up against us. I am thinking of it pretty fondly now in retrospect, but it was infuriating at the time. I guess that the kinetic jostling of the crowd is part of the experience of the concert, and it can’t really be separated from any other part of it. It was also wierd because most of the people surrounding us seemed to know the band, know the music, and know the lyrics. It was a feeling of sudden estrangement. I am much more familiar with Ladytron, shouted along to their music, and then suddenly was a stranger in a very different environment.

Fun, still, despite all.