Robyn at Roundhouse

Last night, I saw Robyn at Roundhouse.

I've seen Robyn live quite a few times now, from one of her earliest UK gigs to the heights of Heaven.

She always delivers.

I can totally see why she called her last album Body Talk; she really does channel her lyrics through her dancing. Such as:

• Simulating putting a calculator in her pocket during Fembot
• Thumping a heartbeat on her chest during With Every Heartbeat
• Simulating kissing and embracing herself during Dancing on my Own
• Throwing herself around the stage in unabashed, uncoordinated dance fever during nearly everything.

In short, and, as always: amazing.

Robyn @ Heaven

Ace Swedish popstar Robyn played a wonderful gig last night in Heaven.

Robyn is very much the hipster's popstar of choice. She slipped out on stage with her hair all sticking up, wearing tights, a corset belt, a white bra and an old shirt. It looked a bit like she'd walked through a wardrobe and clothes fell on her. Somehow, it all worked wonderfully.

She played an ace set of tunes from her new album Body Talk and previous album Robyn. "I'm giving it my all," she sings in her new song Dancing on my Own. It's definitely true. She dances like a demon: hands flying, fists flailing, shoulder shimmying, head bouncing, hearts beating. There's not much panache, just unabashed joy and enjoyment. Halfway through, her hair had fallen down, such was the intensity of her dancing.

And then there's the brilliant bits where she drums and bangs on cymbals.

"She is tearing it up!" exclaimed the friend I was with. She certainly was, with her own ace dancepop and collaborations The Girl & The Robot and With Every Heartbeat, she had the audience reaching dance euphoria.

Rockin' Robyn

I went to see Robyn play in Metro last night. Rather than the erratic and raw Robyn we saw last time, this was funky Robyn. 

She was in total control of the stage, and the audience loved her. We sang along at all the right moments, and you could see Robyn was overwhelmed by our reaction. She chirped "takk" and "thanks" and was uber-cute. These were the high-points:

• It was a retro-Robyn-fest, with performances of Show Me Love and Keep This Fire Burning.
• The best song of the night was her newest, the oh-so-sublime With Every Heartbeat.
• Robyn put her hand up her top for one chorus of this and affected a very strong heartbeat. Ace.
• Robyn danced her little legs off - bopping and popping to nearly every song. This involved a lot flailing of arms and legs. Coordinated, she is not.
• Robyn's fringe covers half her face. I don't know how she sees.
• There were two performances of Be Mine - for both she neglected to say the "and you looked happy, and that's great ... I just miss you, that's all" line. I agreed with a random, excitable Swedish girl that this was not right, so we said the line together, thus making everything OK.
• Konichiwa Bitches was ace, as per usual.
• Robyn was accompanied by two drummers - such a good look.

And that's that. Robyn is playing another London gig in just under a month, at Cargo. Click here to book, and go see as Robyn is fantastic and ace.

Robyn

I saw ace Swedish pop-star Robyn play the second of two London gigs last Friday at Puregroove at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen. Robyn's 2005 album combines acoustic guitars, electro synths and hip-hop beats with cute, cool vocals and lyrics. It is ace, an amazing album.

Opening her set with the ‘I-know-I’m-better-than-you’ sentiment of Handle Me, it was clear that Robyn was here. 

Backed by just one guitarist / drummer, the music was pared back and minimal, with Robyn’s cool, emotional vocal style to the fore. This detracted from the familiar synthy sounds of some of her songs, which was something of a shame, but her vocal style more than made up for this.

What a style! At times confident and boastful, she taunted the audience, but we always knew it wasn't about us, she was just playing. And then, fragile, sentimental and bittersweet, we just wanted to reach out and touch. Playground taunting, in-your-face hip-hop styled Konichiwa Bitches and Cobrastyle were strong, uptempo songs. Robyn controlled and sparred with the audience, and we loved it.

I was struck by her on-stage behaviour: Robyn raised her fists, clenched her eyes, snarled her lips, and appeared frantically breathless at times. I was expecting a polished Swedish pop star, so as for stage presence, it was certainly surprising but utterly engaging. This was Robyn, raw, emotional and up-close.

Sadly, two of my favourite songs from the album weren't played (Who's that Girl? and Crash & Burn Girl). The set focused on her more acoustic and edgy material. Ending with the very excellent and bittersweet Be Mine, the audience joined in, convinced and won over by a very impressive pop star.

See my review of Robyn on Londonist.com

Robyn official site | Robyn myspace | Buy The Rakamonie EP