Cut Copy live @ De Melkweg, Oude Zaal

Live report of Cut Copy live at De Melkweg Oude Zaal, 2011

No, that new album of theirs is not going to be the one they will be remembered by. Not that it’s not a decent album (it is), but those other two will probably be remembered more fondly. Personally I have a preference for their debut Bright Like Neon Love, but Cut Copy’s second album In Ghost Colours is probably the consensus pick. Which perhaps is for the better, because they basically split their live set between songs from In Ghost Colours and from their new one Zonoscope, throwing in only one measly track from Bright Like Neon Love (and ‘Saturdays’ at that!). However, one is quickly forgiven when one puts up such a tight, tight show as Cut Copy does at De Melkweg.

Nobody would probably deny the lads from Australia have some solid tunes. Because there is some serious tunage going on, with one catchy track being played after another. They waste no time from the get go, playing two of In Ghost Colours’ best tunes in the opening part of their set. ‘So Haunted’ is just a tremendous crowd pleaser with its “What’s that you see / it’s only satellites satellites satellites!” bit as opener. It is perhaps the track I remember most fondly from the first time I saw them in Brooklyn. That and ‘Lights and Music’ from the same album, which opening notes are greeted by a roar from the crowd. It is perhaps their signature song, and it gets the house a-rockin’. The only downside to this is that the next track they play, Zonoscope’s ‘Take Me Over’, sounds rather mundane in comparison (and it is not their best track off of Zonoscope in my personal opinion to begin with).

This isn’t to say, however, that the Zonoscope tracks should be buried and drowned all together. After the seeming lull compared to ‘Lights and Music’ one of Zonoscope’s other songs picks it right up; namely ‘Pharaohs and Pyramids’. Every little beat of this song oozes out the idea that this song was written with nothing but the dance floor in mind. The same can be said for ‘Sun God’, that umpteen minute track that ends both Zonoscope and their regular set. So that’s quite the jam they end it with, although it is indeed more a jam than that it invokes the dance madness of for example The a ‘Happy House’ by The Juan MacLean does. If the band can transform ‘Sun God’ into something like that, then they’re sitting on gold. The band goes out on an encore consisting of ‘Need You Now’ and ‘Out There on the Ice’.

What jumps out to me is how tight the band is live. Between all the dancing, the shenanigans of the guitar player, the hand claps, and the on-and-off fifth man; the one constant is the consistency of the quality. It seems almost pre-recorded. Dan Whitford’s voice is remarkably stable, and the band just seems to hit note after note after note. This might be a recipe for disaster because of its predictability, but somehow they manage to mix their consistency with the evocation to dance. That is perhaps their greatest strength. Also, the searing guitar adds a bit of a rock element to a clinically clean live performance.

The crowd is well up for it, and the more Cut Copy delivers, the more the crowd is going for it. Everyone is dancing and actively engaged with the show Cut Copy puts on (and don’t be mistaken, their stage presence has evolved into something of a show), and the band churns out one danceable tune after another. Even if one is not fond of Zonoscope and has their doubts about seeing them, still I recommend going, because these lads sure know how to get a crowd going. Be sure to check them out if catchy music is what you are looking for, I can almost guarantee Cut Copy will deliver in a live setting.