White Lies at the Troxy

Often one's enjoyment of a gig depends on matters totally extraneous to the act one comes to see. A case in point was White Lies at the Troxy.

Point one, although the Troxy is a lovely small art deco theatre, it is miles away from where I live. And when you have taken a bus, two tubes and the DLR to get there the only worse thought you have is that you will need to do it all in reverse a few hours later.

And second, well you find a good place near the front and then as it gets crowded, other lesser mortals arrive too late for you to move elsewhere. And these are annoying people. And without wishing to sound sexist, some of the most annoying people of all at gigs are women, and this is because of three traits which are not shared by all, or even most women, but were by the ones around me.

So first up is volume. Blokes can be loud, but not quite as piercing. And singing along to your favourite act is fine. If you can sing. But if you sing flatter than a pancake you really should think about toning it down. Its not a a karaoke evening and the rest of us might have come to listen to the person with the good voice on stage.

Second up is the need to spend much of the gig with arms waving above head. Again blokes do it, but not as much. Exacerbated by wearing sleeveless dress. B.O, as well as blocking vision of anyone behind. Just saying.

And third, mini-rucksacks combined with dancing. Blokes seem to arrive at gigs with nothing that won't fit in a pocket. Girls need bags, which they will not put in a cloakroom. Fair enough. But then don't stand still but dance around. bodies dancing, yes well that's what you are there for, fine. Someone's physical presence I am happy to be buffeted by, but not a dirty great swinging rucksack socking into you as they twirl.

So, from all that you might imagine I wasn't that enamoured with this gig. The support at, Alex Cameron, didn't exactly cheer me. Genuinely one of the dullest support acts I have ever seen. And you didn't need to take my word for it; his band members just exuded ennui themselves. the saxophonist kept sitting down when not playing and looking as if this was his most boring night of the week.

  

But, in the end, despite all of this, it was great gig. just because White Lies are a fabulous act. They have rather become unfashionable, but their third album Friends is terrific and a major return to form after the disappointing Big TV. Whole set was tremendous, but they just have such a good back catalogue now to choose from. Harry McVeigh has enormous vocal strength to carry the songs over the music. He is not the most outgoing of front men, and does smile at the audience with the sort of expression that serial killers would have just before they announce they are going to eat your liver, but nothing can detract from what a great act they are. Looking forward to the next album!