Live Review

Au Revoir Simone – Admiral Bar Glasgow

• 22nd May 2007

Au Revoir Simone come gift-wrapped under the banner of ‘innocent, seductive synth-driven pop full of honeyed harmonies’ and as far as their records are concerned, that’s pretty much all you need to know. The question was, would that same light, airy and dream-like perfection of sound translate onto a live setting? Oui!
All those who gathered inside tonight’s Admiral Bar had obviously read the press release and weren’t left disappointed with what this New York threesome had to offer.
Consisting of Heather D’Angelo (vocals, drum machines, keyboard), Erika Forster (vocals, keyboard) and Annie Hart (vocals, keyboard) Au Revoir Simone mingle quietly amongst the gathering crowd while they wait for support act to finish their set.
It’s just after 10 when Au Revoir Simone make their way onto the small stage – it looking all the more intimate due to the array of keyboards and lanky bodies which occupied it.
Without being shy they quietly greet the cheering crowd and ease us into the gentle sways of tonight’s opener. ‘The Lucky One’ is a delightful intro and by the time the girls start get to the soft chants of ‘Let the sunshine so’, every one of those on-looking are in the kind of dreamy trance which dominates so much of this bands music. They follow that with the brilliant ‘Sad Song’ – “Gimme a sad song cos that’s what I wanna hear/ I want you to make me cry” they despondently sing to a background of fast and uplifting keyboards and drum machines.
The combination of their downbeat lyrics to a backdrop of such beautiful music is one of the things that make Au Revoir Simone the attraction they are. They continue through a mixture of at times Beach Boy-like electro girl music and like I said before, no one here tonight is disappointed. Their charm and onstage wit has everyone on their side throughout and one presumes the lack of crowd demand for an encore is down to their politeness rather than a longing for the band to depart. This, their second visit to Glasgow, saw Au Revoir Simone perform with the kind of enthusiasm and grace, which is seldom found in such small venues. One can only hope they’ll be back soon. Those of us to showed up tonight deserve it.