Review
Review
Jamie xx at Alexandra Palace, 25/09/24
DJ, producer and all-round music multitasker Jamie xx brings two and a half hours of euphoric joy to Ally Pally’s great hall
Firstly, Jamie xx has no business starting raves on a Wednesday night. No business at all. Especially when that rave-slash-tour is in support of a hotly anticipated second album (In Waves, released last Friday) which happens to be really, really good. Doesn’t he get that we all have work in the morning? DJs, eh? Absolute liberty.
It’s funny. Lots of DJs/music snobs have been a bit sniffy about Jamie xx’s specific brand of dance music in the past (‘too many samples’, ‘bit of a hack’ are just some of the comments this writer has heard on a personal level), but In Waves is already being touted as one of the year’s best dance albums – so, pardon me by saying it’s clear the xx wonderkid definitely has something good going on. You only have to look at his packed Glasto set to understand the breadth of his appeal. Sure, In Waves is a step away from his debut In Colour (released in 2015, yes people, nearly ten years ago: just let that sink in) in that Jamie is older, wiser and evidently a lot more joyous. Every single released from this sophomore venture thus far has sounded slick and rapturous, and, like xx bandmate Romy’s recent Mid Air album (equally brilliant), feels like an homage to dance culture in general.
So, everyone kind of knew what they were getting into when buying tickets for this, the first of his two London live dates at Alexandra Palace. Are we raving on a Wednesday? Yes, yes we are.
And of course, it’s In Waves that starts this sold-out set. Openers ‘Wanna’ and ‘Treat Each Other Right’ (with its screechy 90s sounding vocal) sound absolutely epic in Ally Pally’s hallowed (and sometimes unforgiving) main hall. People are already vaping. The vibe is strong. But it’s the sudden mix of Sonique’s iconic ‘It Feels So Good’ about fifteen minutes later that truly kicks the door in. While only treating us to a couple rounds of the chorus, the track unites the crowd – from the old f*ckers (like this writer) who remembers the song first time round, to the new gen starting to worship at the alter of 90s rave culture. It’s very clever. It’s very Jamie xx.
From here on in, the set feels like a magical (musical) mystery tour. Of course, everyone’s waiting for the biggies – ‘Gosh’ gets an outing pretty early on, as does the xx reunion everyone wanted, new single ‘I Waited All Night’, although many seem disappointed that Romy and Oliver Sim don’t join Jamie on stage for a live vocal – and Jamie delivers, but he’s also treating us to a lesson in all the different genres he evidently loves to play. From dubstep to trance, the tracks joining the dots between his better known singles are delivered with a considered nod to the tribes and subcultures that exist within them.
The only time it falls a bit flat is a woolly euphoric section around halfway through the set (that leaves some ravers looking a bit lost or making tracks to the bar), however, he pulls things back into focus with the aggressive lockdown anthem ‘Idontknow’. This writer personally has a lot of emotions attached to this track. The memories of being shut indoors, alone with only 6Music for company (who recognised the importance of ‘Idontknow’ as an anthem to unite us/start a kitchen disco in such dark times, so played the absolute shit out of it) are put to bed with every thump of the single’s threatening beat.
On we go and there’s more musical shout-outs. The stunning 80s choir classic ‘Stand On The Word’ by The Joubert Singers brings the uninitiated to church, its glorious ‘we must not question the good lord’ lifts the crowd momentarily before Jamie sends us stratospheric with his sublime gospel-loaded ‘Let’s Do It Again’. At points it feels impossible to keep up. We could have sworn we heard parts of ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’ by Santa Esmeralda being woven in (i.e. the fight scene in Kill Bill where Lucy Liu gets her head taken off by The Bride – epic track), but hey, at this stage anything goes.
The set wraps up with ‘Baddy On The Floor’ and ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’, not before Jamie goes completely batshit by ending with ‘Whole Lotta Love’ by Led Zeppelin. The vapers look confused. The old farts rock out. It’s rogue. But hey, it’s a Wednesday rave. Why tf not? And, we all still have the dreaded Ally Pally home commute to look forward to. Regardless of that, Jamie xx is back, and there’s going to be (more) good times. Strap in.
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Photo credit: Joseph Okpako/WireImage
