Lux Lisbon …. again!

I learned something about myself last night, I learned that I like my artists, painting and starving in garret rooms, my poets in basement bars nursing a single drink along with their tortured souls, and my Lux Lisbon at 'The Bronze'.

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled and unsurprised that Lux Lisbon go from strength to strength and can sell out at the beautiful Bush Hall and be slightly overwhelmed by the support of a growing, eclectic and adoring fan base  but I felt 'miffed' by the trappings that go along with that.  I thought the lighting design was hideous and the man with the giant video camera (compensating much?) hugely invasive.  

But the band, was, as ever, amazing!!!

But I get ahead of myself 
(insert ripple back in time effect from 1970s TV here)

I grew up in Shepherds Bush, so I couldn't understand why I couldn't place the Bush Hall in my memory.  If there was a beautiful Edwardian music venue under my very nose - why had I never seen it?  A very small amount of research, God bless google had the answer, in my day Bush Hall was a snooker club, with a reputation that meant the teenaged Jude was to walk by very quickly, and preferably on the opposite side of the road!  

So, I had never stepped foot inside it until last night.







The Bush Hall has its own dining room just next door, a contemporary, welcoming place with good food and very cool toilets.  They are happy for you to take a table just for drinks and you may find yourself sitting next to a couple of careless sons, just saying.  

loving the loos!

Bush Hall, by contrast, is all faded elegance; dusty carpets and chandeliers, and you can almost forgive them the lack of air con for the sheer quirky, careless drama of the place.  I have mentally planned how I will use the space to host a party of my own.

But onwards with the music...


Watching the first support act was a bit surreal, many of us took to the floor and the scene resembled something of a half-hearted student 'sit in' circa 1975 complete with a beautiful tousle haired child who scampered, topless, around the floor.  Son of Jack played a Tom Paxton-esque ode to his own son which was charming if a little more pound land Paxton than the real thing.  He did warm up during his set and was utterly inoffensive although possibly destined to always be the bridesmaid….

However, I like Kuqi, yes I do!  

I love that they are named after a Finnish footballer AND have to tell us how to say their name.  I enjoyed the passion and the utterly eclectic mix of songs from Norwegian prisons to the ubiquitous love song.  I'm an 80s girl at heart and can always be led astray by a nod to the elctro synth sound - and Kuqi is making it relevant again.

Smile Dream Standing in the Shadows Nowhere Faster Bastoy Feels Just Like It Should This War Needs Guns Peace of Mind

What I don't now yet is if their music translates to the living room and car  or if they are truly a performance band.  I'll keep you posted or listen in and decide for yourself.

So Lux Lisbon.  What is there to say that hasn't been said before.  
They are amazing.  

“For the eternity that Lux Lisbon looked at him, Trip Fontaine looked back, and the love he felt at that moment, truer than all subsequent loves because it never had to survive real life," 

There is an intensity about Stu, that was barely concealed last night.  He has an uncanny ability to make everyone in a crowd feel that he has looked right at them and in that moment you are a part of it - and your presence there matters.  This coupled with Charlotte's effortless universal appeal is heady stuff.  Everyone there became their Trip Fontaine that sweltering, melting night in the Bush Hall.

It was a great set, from start to finish.

Keep Me Wild is the song that brought our friend Reine all the way to London from Gothenburg.  Did he mind missing the gig in which Foo Fighter Dave Grohl fell off the stage, broke his leg and carried on with the set?  (Not to mention the Swedish Royal wedding.)   No, he did not!  And this is why.

Favourite moment of the night was when Charlotte proudly announced 'I wrote this one', and as the intro played there were many uncomfortable exchanging of glances, an unspoken WHO should tell her that she had far too obviously plagiarised 'Under Pressure' followed by much cringing at our own stupidity when it became a fuck off cover of….Under Pressure.  Loved it!

 But Charlotte DID write the Greatest Human CannonBall and it is an achingly beautiful and haunting song which creates an absolute dichotomy between the guileless, effortless, smiley performer on stage and the insecurity of the anonymous human cannonball.  I haven't stopped listening to this since Friday, it gets under your skin and stays there. 

It was one hell of a party, The Bullingdon Club and Get Some Scars had everyone singing and dancing and sweating copiously.  

Lux Lisbon are quality.  They have talent, passion and joie de vivre in abundance.  They have something to say and you should bloody well listen.  Find them on twitter @LuxLisbonMusic or on Facebook, get yourself to a gig and fall a little in love with them yourself.

PS  Elliot, I bumped into your mum in the toilets and she's so proud :)