Bands put themselves at the mercy of a lot of different factors when they hit the road. Fickle business that it is, fans swarm like moths from one shiny thing to the next and if you pause for a moment, the next younger, brighter, shiner thing usurps you without even a bye or leave.
So for a band like Spektrum, who were doing this electro-punk-funk hyphen-pop thing waaay before the likes of Metronomy, Late Of The Pier and the other upstarts, it must be difficult knowing where your next audience is going to come from. That's before you figure in other obstacles like 'flu-ridden band members and useless soundmen.
Frontwoman, Lola Olafisoye is a bewitching presence onstage, but tonight she's without her stoic counter-balance, knob-twiddler Gabriel Olegavich (struck with the aforementioned 'flu) and seems a little at sea, despite an able rhythm section and the warmth from the small crowd. Matters are made worse by her needing to keep prodding the soundman to play the backing track (making up for Olegavich's absence) in-between lines.
Also, the newest songs here are over twelve months old, so you can expect a little sluggishness here and there. Still, 'May Day' is a storming opener, 'Cedar' is lascivious enough to knock the temperature up a notch and 'Kinda New', blended with the famous Tiefschwarz remix, is nothing short of brilliance. It's a patchy, occasionally frustrating night for Spektrum though, through no fault of their own and one that almost makes you wonder whether being a vanguard is worth it in this day and age.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3452&band=2147
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