thecocknbullkid, London ICA

March 11th, 2009

Just arriving inside the ICA we feel immediately out of place for not having worn a hat - what an eclectic mix of people as an audience. The venue itself and surprisingly ‘mature’ audience makes it feel like we are at a college open evening. With all that said we do not object to the odd glass of wine and holding long conversations about holidaying in the south of France.

The evening is dotted with DJ sets from this year’s hotly-tipped artists including New Young Pony Club, Florence And The Machine and Frankmusik. The difficulty here is that on the evening itself the DJs are on the upstairs mezzanine so half of the venue doesn’t actually get to see them and it almost feels a bit too much like it is just a time filler. Surely artists of this calibre deserve more attention and in fact even an announcement that it is actually them playing? Having said that, the DJ set is a little obscure… with offerings of Justin Timberlake, Sinead O’Connor, Beyonce and something which relates back to 50s swing it all seems a little too indecisive, but on the whole the attendees don’t seem to be bothered by it whilst they hold conversations over their glasses of wine.

Indie-rock Londoners The Twenties play an interesting set and are a surprising choice of artist to play in stark contrast to the headlining act here tonight, thecocknbullkid. If you have not heard of the Twenties you are perhaps more likely to have heard of the frontman Gabriel Stebbing’s other band Metronomy, an electro-indie band with a rather different sound to The Twenties.

The set is good and gets the crowd moving. There is a certain twist of the Beach Boys here, and we have to admit that a number of songs take a while to get off the ground. But once the ears are adjusted they have a seemingly genuine and likeable sound. Heads are nodding and there are a number of people dancing like crazed lunatics down the front… possibly down to the wine.

Following the set by The Twenties we experience possibly the oddest interval in a show we have seen. A troupe of three dancers called Sparkle Motion Dancers take to the stage in pink sparkly numbers to dance their way through a couple of songs in a synchronised fashion that honestly makes Steps look credible. But the effort is there, and it certainly provides entertainment. We are simply in an environment which seems to promote the unexpected!

By the time thecocknbullkid takes to the stage we can’t help but think she is going to have to pull something pretty special out of the bag if she is going to make amends for the so far ‘unusual’ entertainment. And she certainly comes up with the goods.

In fact she is on top form, having just an hour earlier secured a record deal with Island. It is not hard to see why tonight. She offers something different to the music scene, but in a highly credible way. She certainly puts on a show, with neon flashing signs and even an outfit that lights up. Okay so she probably took it a little too far, but surely with the amount of cash she will have just pocketed from that record deal she can be forgiven on this occasion for “flashing the cash”.

The highlight of her set includes latest release ‘I’m Not Sorry’ which the audience know well. It is a pop-tastic and catchy number that begs you to move your feet to its sugar-coated disco melodies. thecocknbullkid appears to have built up quite a following, and the audience tonight is extremely varied from a few very young people to the slightly more mature. But regardless of age she manages to entice the crowd into her sugary pop vision and has them captured right from the word go. We predict that this lady of pop will be unavoidable in the coming months.

Though what we will never know is whether they were mesmerised by the music or hypnotised by that outfit with the flashing lights…