It’s not for the cock, it’s for a slice of Swedish pop

by It’s not for the cock on Sun, 2008/12/07 - 5:45pm Post to Twitter

Lykke Li @ Koko, London, Friday 28th November

Swedish pop minx, Lykke Li, is in Camden town and is poised to play what must be one of her biggest gigs yet and, judging by the hoards of young females in imitating attire, it is the perfect setting for a triumphant gig.

As the designated stage time fades into the distance without us even catching a glimpse of Li, the crowd grows expectant and a little impatient. The mutterings around Koko are now dotted dangerously with words such as “diva”, “late” and “again”.

Eventually, three weedy, non descript indie boys come onstage and take position behind their instruments before the lights dim and Lykke Li strides on full of confidence and showmanship, instantly forcing the crowd to forget their grumbles. 

Li quickly makes it apparent that she is the star of the show. While her backing band are dressed blandly in black, she dances energetically, laced in excessive amounts of jewellery and lets her strawberry blonde hair fall all over her face. From the off , Li is the centre of attention with a scrum of photographers at her feet flashing frantically as she jumps about, occasionally hitting a cymbal or cowbell.

Although the crowd seem a little nervous and afraid of dancing, as the band bring the first song to a close a huge cheer breaks out. Throughout the gig, Lykke Li will try to encourage audience participation (at one point seeming more than a little frustrated when she says tells us Manchester was much louder the night before) to what, it must be said, is little effect. It’s not that nobody is listening, it’s just that these types of London crowds don’t seem to mix well with such an energetic performer.

However, one of the best things about tonight’s gig is how all the songs sound so refreshingly different to Li’s album, “Youth Novel”. With “Dance Dance Dance” resonating with powerful, booming drums and “I’m Good, I’m Gone” sounding positively hip-hop (accentuated by the mad shapes Li throws, stooping low with hands cutting through the air and shoulders grooving back and forth) it’s almost as if she’s covering her own songs.

As well as this, Lykke Li is a great live performer. On record she can sometimes sound tediously cutesy yet live she transforms herself into a surprisingly provocative singer and performer. She rockets from angry rockstar to hip hop dancer to joyous and playful pop singer often in the space of one song. As she dominates the stage, despite often having lengthy parts in songs where she doesn’t sing, she steals focus and attention from her band members effortlessly. 

Towards the end of the performance, Li and her band whip out a storming rendition of Vampire Weekend’s “Cape Cod Kwassi Kwassi” which naturally resounds perfectly with the young Koko crowd. Instead of the pleasant, clean-cut song we’re familiar with though, we instead get a hard hitting, fast paced version that spreads smiles throughout the venue.

After the perfect amount of time onstage, neither short changing or boring us, Lykke Li bows out triumphantly. While this may not have been the all singing, all dancing (from the crowd) celebration that many, including the headliner, had hoped for, tonight’s gig was certainly a fun and mischievous success.