I Care Because Gillian Does

The gigtastic year kicks on, with recent trips to those old haunts the Enmore Theatre and Hordern Pavilion to take in Aphex Twin and New Order respectively.

I’ve had mixed experiences with Mr Twin in the past, the nadir being a night at the much-lamented Astoria watching a laptop on a table playing headshredding techno. In contrast, Friday’s set involved a fantastic light show and laugh-out-loud funny visual trickery. Musically, it started off as beefed up hip-hop beats, mutated through a range of styles more familiar to the facially hirsute cognoscenti than to my indie-boy ears, and ended with a thrilling all-out aural assault.

I couldn’t identify a single tune, but it was ace. 

The sadly Hookyless New Order provided an opportunity to catch up with old mates and dance like a fool to reworked versions of all the classics you would expect, plus a couple of unexpected pleasures like 586 and Elegia. Another winner.

Next up Elbow, whom I once saw supporting New Order at the Olympia in Liverpool.