La Roux – In For the Kill, Bulletproof (Live)

One of the most consistently successful musical formulas of the last couple years has been that of the electronic duo. A relatively recent entry in the crowded field is England’s La Roux. Consisting of singer Elly Jackson and producer / multi-instrumentalist Ben Langmaid, La Roux make straight-to-the-point pop songs in the vein of 80s groups Yazoo, Heaven 17, and the Human League. They have recently been making some moves on this side of the Atlantic, mostly due to their single “Bulletproof” getting significant radio play (so much so that I even heard the song recently in the waiting room at the veterinarian’s office).

La Roux played NYC’s Terminal 5 on the last stop of a short U.S. tour. Whereas many other electronic groups’ live performance amounts to little more than someone hitting “Play” on a sequencer, La Roux get points for making the effort to add a human element by incorporating 2 synth players and an electronic drummer into the show (producer Langmaid elects to sit out live performances, but was in attendance in the crowd at this show). While technically unnecessary, the extra members added a visual appeal to the performance and avoided giving the show the feel of a glorified karaoke session.

The 50-minute set consisted of the majority of their debut album, plus an acoustic non-album track and a cover of the Rolling Stones‘ “Under My Thumb.” The live versions of the tracks were largely faithful to their recorded counterparts, with a minimal amount of additional arrangement and the obligatory NYC name-dropping to get cheap pops from the crowd.

From this show, I’ve included “Bulletproof” and “In For The Kill.”

Setlist
Tigerlily
Quicksand
I’m Not Your Toy
Armour Love
Saviour
Under My Thumb
Growing Pains
Cover My Eyes
Colourless Colour
In For The Kill
Fascination

Encore:
Bulletproof

Download: La Roux – Bulletproof (Live)

Download: La Roux – In For the Kill (Live)