All concerts should be scaffolded by numerous beers and a springy floor. Since both were around for Hot Chip’s latest visit to Portland, the vibe shot from energetic to delightfully dance-a-licious. Frontman Alexis Taylor opted to play up his Kip Dynamite similarities with a long-sleeved pink pinstriped shirt tucked in to crème-colored pants. His thick horn-rimmed glasses made him look a little more demonic than LaFawnduh-seducing. Didn’t stop him from playing his heart out for 90 minutes and trading guitars, synths, and mics with the other band members.
“Over and Over” would have scored as the obvious crowd pleaser but this was an educated audience—“Hold On,” “Shake a Fist,” and “Colours,” got the peoples just as boisterous, keeping the energy high and the smiles wide. The gentlemen directly in front of me could only be described as ‘fratties,’ which worried me and my friend a bit at first. Turns out Hot Chip inspired them to un-pop their colors and go crazy ape shit (while being conscientious of others) and occasionally taking a glimpse back at their less than impressed girlfriends and scream to them the name of each song as if it was the cure for cancer. Gotta love that. By the time the main set ended with “Ready for the Floor,” the masses let loose and were thirsty for more.
The biggest flaw of their new album is that it feels like they didn’t know which direction to go in so they tried to go three routes at once. The encore was the only time this polarity really stuck out as the boys slowed things way down with “Made in the Dark” and “In the Privacy of Our Love.” The latter being kicked off by an acapella cover of Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares.” It was far less than seven hours and sixteen days before it turned into an all-ballroom sing along, proving the crowd was happy to trade hopping for swaying as long as Hot Chip was willing to have them.
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