Live Review

The Modern – “Festival of Sins” The Purple Turtle, London.

• 2nd Mar 2009

Playing their first live gig of 2009, The Modern (Formally Matinee Club (Formally The Modern (Formally Dirty Blonde))) are back in action. For a while (when matinee Club)keyboardists/Vocalists Nathan Cooper and Chi Tudor-Hart along with their front woman Emma Cooke worked as a tri with a complete electronic background. Deciding that they sounded better with a proper drummer they have managed to reinstate their Drummer, Rees. Later this year will see the release of their second album.

It has been a long journey with the band slowly morphing from their original state back in 2003 into the Modern in 2005 where they really managed to start working hard on their material and album deals worked out. Continuing to play regular shows through out the city as well as throughout the UK and at Festivals. The next couple of years saw the band hop record labels a couple of times, get dragged into chart sale controversy, rebranding themselves back and forth and the final release of their debut album.

They may make playing their back catalogue to a familiar crowd effortless, but they also manage to give off a fresh vibe that resonates into the crowd. Cooper in particular still retains an enthusiasm from behind his keyboard pedestal, which is potentially the easiest instrument to give to the crowd in terms of sound and atmosphere, but the hardest to show the players enthusiasm. Cooper seems to manage this with ease, but as he has a lot of heavy vocal work to do it probably helps project the image, coming off like a later day Howard Jones.

What also works well is the introduction of some more recent material (more than likely from the forthcoming album) which displays the bands keen ear for something that is easy to latch onto. Their retro 80’s disco pop still has many tricks to be played. Emma Cooke still displays her 50’s Americana pop culture poster look with her finely curled blonde hair and immaculate gaze upon the crowd, with a voice not that far off from a certain Miss Kyle Minogue.

With this rejuvenated outlook for the band and the forthcoming release perhaps things can now start to sail a bit more smoothly for The Modern.