Gorgon City certainly have come a long way in their short (yet, successful) career, and with their debut album Sirens dropping last autumn, it seemed inevitable that they’d have to eventually take the record on the road. However, could a full-scale tour have been a bit too presumptuous, seeing as in reality, the Gorgon boys still only have one full-length project to showcase? Time will eventually tell how they can fit in with the live scene, however on first glance, their closing Sirens show at Camden’s Roundhouse last week asked more questions than potentially answer pre-existing ones.
Hands-down, Gorgon City (aka Kye Gibbon and Matt Robson-Scott) have created some impressive songs in their young lifespan – Ready For Your Love hit Top 5 at the start of last year, with following singles all entering Top 20 over the course of 2014, and ultimately, it was these songs that the Roundhouse crowd understandably became most-excitable about. The lack of any of Gorgon’s original collaborators (i.e. Maverick Sabre, MNEK, Jennifer Hudson, Laura Welsh) did seem to raise eyebrows, however. Although, kudos to both Gibbon and Robson-Scott for their strength in picking the right replacements, with Josh Barry, Lulu James and Janai taking the helm for the entirety of the show (bar a trio of bizarre instrumental interludes that deviated from tech-house, to electronic-metal to one epileptic-enducing hardcore-electro set).
Admittedly, there were smiles all-round, but post-event discussions were taking place whether an actual winning formula existing in the show. Granted, there was great music (Gorgon City really know how to create the anthems), however bar the aforementioned interludes, and a 6-minute UKG throwback (Barry & co taking the helm of Roy Davis Jr’s Gabriel, and Kele Le Roc’s My Love), the whole evening felt fairly lukewarm.
That’s not to say that there’s no future for Gorgon City on the live circuit – far from it actually. In fact, you could see some early Basement Jaxx within the whole evening’s progression; vocalist-engagement with both each-other and the crowd; percussion-aplenty) – the boys just need to hone their craft more. Basement Jaxx succeed in their live shows by flipping the ideology of a concert on its head, and instead turn their gigs into ‘events’; Gorgon City are early-enough in their career to consider this type of move too.
Ultimately, the duo also need to understand their audience-base, or at least tailor them to their own requirements – the lack of ticket age-requirements (coupled with low-cost-of-entry) unfortunately led to attendees aged from 14 to 40. The upper-scale are no concern at all; it’s when you’re surrounded by prepubescent teenagers that are continually snapping selfies (with and without their dreaded ‘selfie sticks’), plus mutter “What the hell is this?” during an impromptu garage session, you have to wonder whether Gorgon City are truly comfortable as to the demographic they appeal to.
Get the audiences right; expand on-stage creativity, and understand what else there is out there, and Gorgon City might, just might, become a class live act in the next couple of years. In the meantime though, we’re going to stick with enjoying their quality music from the comfort of our living rooms. (Stream the full set below:)
