Goldfrapp at the Beacon Theatre

April 30th, 2008

Soft. Ethereal. Sexy. Female. Dainty. Words to best describe Allison Goldfrapp.

I saw Goldfrapp last night at the beacon theatre, and I must say, it was quite a pleasant experience! The mood was laid back, and thanks to the glory of assigned seating i was able to have a scotch beforehand and still be able to SEE the show! By SEE I mean I wasn't on my tippy toes asking my tall friend what was happening on the stage! How lovely! The production was interesting- with bamboo like mats woven in giant squares on the stage- that acted as a back drop for the various artsy fartsy projections- it added a nice texture and visual accompaniment to the music.

Miss Allison was in full form that night- wearing a pink satin glorified clown suit moomoo type thing- which she some how managed to still look gloriously HOT in. She was even BAREFOOT (I secretly LOVE when performers do this, I suppose it makes them seem more connected to the stage for me? I don't know) The best moments for me? Well, there was some technical mishaps (which I didn't even notice)- and apparently Miss Allison thought it wasn't so grand and shouted out in her adorable english accent "MY voice sounds like SHIT!" then adorably storming off stage to "yell" at the sound guy haha! Second time, she just bellowed out a long dramatic "fuuuuuuuuuckkkkkkkk" which for whatever reason made me laugh out loud.

As I drifted in and out of my body listening to her heavenly voice- I had a strange thought, "My God, Goldfrapp is my generation's Stevie Nicks"! This may be weird to you guys.. but she is just as whimsical, just as gifted, and, well, she's becoming an icon whether she likes it or not. She's the ultimate feminine stage presence for me- she's soft and sexy and dainty all in one instant. There are other more DOMINANT female stage entities, i.e. Siouxsie is a goddess- she's WOMAN when she's on stage, but I wouldn't necessarily define her as "feminine". Goldfrapp takes that ideal feminine title and runs full force with it. I can safely say thats how she shines as a performer- having seen her 4 times now.

My only complaint? Setlist was TOO SHORT and not enough variety- the new album is decent (albeit SLOW as hell) - but I really would have liked to hear MORE from Black Cherry and Felt Mountain... and apparently I missed PAPER BAG!!!! Nooooo damn me and my drunken friend! that's one song I would've LOVED to hear! Boooo. but thats my own damned fault- it's OK though, I had whiskey for the first time instead... and I liked it.

Here's the set list I saw:

A&E
Utopia
Cologne Cerrone Houdini
Satin Chic
You Never Know
Road to Somewhere (with technical difficulties)
Eat Yourself
Little Bird
Monster Love
Number One
Strict Machine
--
Ooh La La (Hillbilly Version)
Caravan Girl
Happiness