I Got You on Tape – Concert Review

On Monday I went to see I Got You on Tape (IGYOT). A band which clearly falls into the you-don’t-have-to-look-good-to-make-good-music category (Hot Chip is another one). I bought a ticket on a whim, simply because I loved their third album ‘Spinning for the Cause’.

The band is a Danish indie band fusing rock and pop with a hint of dark reverie that just makes you wanna lose yourself into the music. The bio of the band describes their music as “slow, brooding and mesmerizing”; a very apt description if you ask me. IGYOT formed in 2004, quickly becoming important on the Danish music scene and gaining reputation as a top live act. Prizes were won after their third album was received to high acclaim by music critics and the band embarked on a sold out tour in Denmark earlier this year.

After so much success in their homeland they took their tour to the Netherlands and it is one of these shows that I went to see on Monday in Tivoli de Helling in Utrecht. The concert came with a support act: Nurses. With only around 50 people there, the support act had to ask everyone to come into the venue so they could start their shortened setlist, due to a cold-striken lead singer. Nurses couldn’t really grab me. Their music has all the potential of getting you moving to the beat, but the songs just never took of. Perhaps it was the lead singer, whose cold clearly impaired him in his singing and therefore missed many notes. Another reason could be the fact that the type of music requires a very neat and tight way of playing the songs and this was often not the case. Pity to say, but I was glad when they finished.

Soon after Nurses had finished, more people began to filter into the venue, but I think the crowd never totaled more than 75 or 80 people in the end. Despite the lack in numbers, the crowd, as well as IGYOT, were into the performance. The lead singer chatted conversationally with the audience in between songs and all band members surely have a connection with their music judging by the way they performed it. They started their set with ‘Polkadots’ and, besides two brand new tracks from their yet-to-be-recorded 4th album, they also played ‘Cabaret’, ‘The Black Smith’ and ‘Ace in the Hole’.

Watch the music video for ‘Ace in the Hole’:

It took a while for the performance to take off, but after playing title track ‘Spinning for the Cause’ it seemed like the ice had been broken and it only got better from there. The band performed the songs neatly and often expanded the songs by jamming until fade out. Since the venue was small and it was only half full, audience interaction in between and during songs was something IGYOT made good use of and it gave the concert a very intimate feel. I am sure that the vibe from the songs added to this intimate feeling as they are the type of songs that, even though catchy, are not meant to be sung along to at the top of your lungs.  All in all, IGYOT live is just as good, if not better, than the CD and if you like this type of music then IGYOT is definitely worth a listen live.

If you want to hear their album, go to IGYOT’s myspace. The entire album is streaming in their music player. Songs that are my favorites:

– Cabaret

– The Blacksmith

– Ace in the Hole

If you want to hear what they are like live, watch the following video of IGYOT performing ‘Spinning for the Cause’: