Lord of the Fries

Here's the review I wrote for Hot Chip at Newcastle Student's union:

Electro is back. It’s official. With Simian Mobile Disco playing their take on the genre a few weeks ago, it was now time for Hot Chip to step up to the ring and deliver their blend of electronic rock to Newcastle.
Hot Chip’s second album, The Warning, was Mercury Music Prize nominated and earned them a well-deserved place in the hearts of fans. Tonight they were touring their third album, the acclaimed Made in the Dark. They didn’t disappoint, blowing the audience away with opener Shake a Fist after frontman Alexis Taylor had skipped on merrily wearing a yellow fox mask. The crowd was mesmerized with their live interpretations of their songs, jumping and dancing to every track played.
Other songs such as Out at the Pictures, One Pure Thought and Hold On received a great reception from the frenzied crowd, but the old classics Boy From School and Over and Over proved to be explosive catalysts, making everyone go wild. Synth player and singer Joe Goddard teased the audience before playing the most popular song of the night. People were in raptures when they sang the opening lines of hit single Ready for the Floor towards the end of the set, making everyone crying out for more when they left the stage for the first time.
During the encore, it was obvious that everyone had been whipped up into a frenzy and even through the quiet and gentle Made in the Dark they were cheering them on and encouraging them to continue through the night. All good things have to come to an end though, so when the band finally left the stage there was a feeling of disappointment that they couldn’t have played for longer.
Hot Chip well and truly blew all of their electro rivals out of the water with the clever arrangements and catchy tunes that have made them so popular. The five piece are surely top dogs when it comes to electro.

... And here's the bit I left out:

Poor Matthew Dear! I felt so sorry for him - his electronic music is more sensitive than that of Hot Chip's and it needs to be appreciated in a quiet environment. Note: quiet environment. Well, all you could hear was the chattering of rude and incredibly annoying people who just stood through the whole thing drinking and distracting me for listening to him. He's got some good tunes and is obviously passionate about what he does but the only time anyone paid any attention was when Joe Goddard joined him onstage. For the final song! To be honest, if I was in a band I wouldn't tolerate it. If I noticed someone having a little conversation I'd probably say something really sarcastic to them like, "Having a nice little conversation are you? Good, I'm just hoping you'll stop blathering on about nothing long enough to notice that I'm actually on stage right now." It's shocking. I don't know how he put up with it.