Concert Review: Living Large With Lamb Live

The duo of singer Louise Rhodes and multi-instrumentalist Andy Barlow--better known as Lamb--craft excellent trip-hoppy pop in an unmistakeably British style, like a less morose Portishead. That comparison, however, belies the nature of the duo's music. The soundscapes that Barlow creates behind Rhodes's voice refuse to gel into the standard trip-hop forms; bebop, drum 'n' bass and harsh techno beats all find their way into an eminently digestible mix. The band has undeniable indie cred: they've sampled Charlie Parker, scored a British hit with a song based on the work of classical composer Henryk Grecki and had their songs remixed by Autechre, Bola and Global Communication. Despite all this, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better three-minute pop song than "B Line," their single from this summer.

Lamb's show at Axis, the second date on a small U.S. tour, suffered from technical difficulties: the venue seemingly expected only a DJ and a singer. Instead, the band brought along drummer Mikey Wilson, double bassist Jon Thorne and trumpeter Kevin Davy. Poor sound, especially from the drums, was an issue throughout the show, and the first song, "Soft Mistake," had to be abandoned because the reverb was horrendous. With the worst of the sound problems under control, the band returned to stage and launched into an hour-long set, drawing heavily from their second album, Fear of Fours. Only three tracks from their first album made appearances. The dynamics of the new tracks worked well in a live setting. "Softly," the band's next single, was notable for its growing intensity, while during "Fly," most of the audience was happily jumping up and down. Louise Rhodes's voice shone in "B Line" and was then completely buried beneath the clanking industrial beats of "Alien." "Grecki," the final song before a short encore, was a crowd favorite.

As the band left the stage during the initial misstart, most of the music kept playing, revealing that much of the sound, including a sizable percentage of the rhythm section, was pre-recorded. Lamb's albums are very much studio affairs, made with a sequencer and hard drive. As such, they face the sticking point that's kept most electronic acts from success in the States: how to put on a convincing live show. Bjork manages to do it by the intensity of her stage persona, while the more laidback Massive Attack put on a powerful show by recasting their songs for live instrumentation.

Lamb tried to do both, but fell somewhat short. The exuberance of the band was undeniable, with the overlaying drums, bass and trumpet adding immediacy, but the live touches all seemed rather incidental. Davy, for example, sounded like he was playing samples--live, to be sure, but the same notes to be found on the album. A couple of Thorne's bass solos were nice touches, as was Barlow's delight in distorting Rhodes's voice, but most of the tracks were indistinguishable from their studio counterparts. Lamb make excellent pop songs, but, judging from Saturday's show, there really wouldn't be much point in a Lamb live album.