The cold and dreary night of Thursday 21 October was the date, and Concorde 2 was the place when electro pop sensation Robyn tore up the town with one of this year’s most outstanding gigs. Unrecognisable from the teen star she used to be, the 31-year-old Swede has over the past few years reinvented her image and musical style, as well as started her own record label Konichiwa Records. All of these are factors which have contributed greatly to the overwhelming coolness factor she is now associated with.
Performing in floral leggings and a black sports bra, from the moment the show kick-started with the electrifying ‘Fembot’, the audience knew they were in for something memorable that evening. The stand out songs of the show were a mix of new and old material, such as ‘We Dance To The Beat’ and ‘Konichiwa Bitches’ as well as the incredible ‘Dancing On My Own’. The best song of the night was however the Kleerup cue the violins collaboration ‘With Every Heartbeat’, whose brilliantly poetic lyrics combined with the fierce beat of the music makes it an instant crowd pleaser.
So how does a budding pop icon follow up the roaring success of a previous album? She releases a trilogy of albums in one year, of course, entitled ‘Body Talk’. The sceptics, including yours truly, have so far been silenced with the first two of the three, consisting of a broad range of dance friendly, lyrically powerful collection of songs, many of which were done to perfection at the live Concorde show. The audience even got to enjoy an encore of Robyn’s 1997 hit ‘Show Me Love’ as well as a nod to her Swedish
musical heritage by the ways of ‘Dancing Queen’.
The biggest surprise of the evening was however not the Abba tribute, but the opening act DJ duo Rebecca & Fiona whose unique beats deserved perhaps a little bit more attention from the audience than they received. Nevertheless, we were there to see Robyn and we were most definitely not disappointed. I am an electro pop-convert who is not looking back, but instead looking forward to the forthcoming release of the final instalment of the trilogy, ‘Body Talk Part 3’, which is bound to be an excellent ushering into the new musical year.
