Sleigh Bells, Die Antwoord Prove They Know What Bass Is
July 21st, 2010
In the middle of Sleigh Bells’ set at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto on Tuesday, lead singer Alexis Krauss lowered herself into the crowd like she was slowly testing out the temperature of a cold pool. One male audience member went in for a kiss with Alexis. She leaned in close as if to reciprocate and then pushed his head back into the crowd while laughing through their song, “Ring, Ring.” By the end of the show the entire audience seemed appreciative enough to go in for a smooch.
When two of the most buzzed bands of 2010, Sleigh Bells and Die Antwoord decide to co-headline a tour, there can be a ton of expectation. Joe Jonas even tweeted about Brooklyn girl/boy duo Sleigh Bells in May. One of my friends once said that Sleigh Bells is everything you can want in a band; gritty guitar riffs, pounding hip hop beats and saccharine girly vocals. This was Sleigh Bell’s third stop in Toronto in only a handful of months, but the city’s fans were still starving for more.
Sleigh Bells took the stage about half an hour after their scheduled set time, but once they opened with “Tell ‘Em” all grudges had passed. Lead singer Alexis took a breath after the first song and said, “Thank you guys for waiting.” The band pounded through song after song with the bass turned up so high it punctured your lungs and rattled your skeleton. “Now is the time to get fucking sweaty,” Alexis ordered the crowd while thrashing her hair around and propelling herself into the crowd. They played most of their songs from their relatively short archive and ended with the audience favourite “Crown on the Ground.”
Sleigh Bells set the crowd up for the second group of the night, South African hip-hop trio Die Antwoord. The group are about to release their first American album but have developed a rabid cult following all over the world. The band’s vulgar sexuality is pretty much the best thing ever. The band takes the T&A of showy hip-hop and makes it hilariously tolerable.
The girl of the trio, Yo Landi Vi$$er’s voice sounds like a lady anime character, in a good way, and is really jarring, in a good way, with the raunchy machismo of the rest of their sound. The audience’s energy throughout the whole set was vibrating. It was almost enough for me to not care about the sweaty shirtless man bumping into me… almost. In the middle of their set the notoriously underdressed rapper Ninja came on stage wearing Canadian flag boxers which set off everyone in the venue. D.J. Hi-Tek, was perched above his tables and wore a creepy animal mask. He helped out the pair at the front of the stage by acting as the hype man. The group proved their persuasive powers by leading the crowd in singing about, ahem, a mother’s lady parts. Yes, this is an acquired music taste but it is one worth acquiring.
This may not be an audiologist approved opinion but the show was worth the hearing loss. It is a show that when you are 75, and you can barely hear your grandchildren’s laughter, you will turn to them, tell them the story of the Sleigh Bells/Die Antwoord show of July 2010 and play them their music.
Tags: Die Antwoord, Phoenix Concert Theatre, Sleigh Bells
Posted on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 at 3:23 pm by Jessica and is filed under Concerts, Reviews, The New Music.
