Justice + Late Of The Pier: Somerset House - 11/07/08

Jul 17, 2008

Despite being a band (outfit? Act?) that rarely trouble the charts, Justice seem to have a remarkably strong following. How else could you explain this gig being the quickest sell out of the Somerset House Summer Series and the legions of fans trouping down in their neon and sunglasses, braving the rain and waving some particularly creative umbrellas (Big points to the guy with the electro LED-covered one)?

Donington's much vaunted Late Of The Pier opened proceedings in what can only be described as an ill-timed downpour, leading to a very limited view of the band due to the aforementioned umbrellas. They sounded decent though and even got a few folk dancing in the rain to their brand of trashy synth music. A bit like Klaxons with less sirens and better songs basically.

As the crew stacked up the trademark Marshall amps for Justice's set, the rain began to subside and finally as the huge glowing cross was fixed to the front of their desk, an appropriately religious gap in the clouds appeared. The Gods were smiling upon us and the rain was gone, for the time being at least. Taking to the stage to an ominous rumbling bassline, Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay milked every bit of audience adulation in a manner befitting a stadium rock band (or maybe a couple of American faith-healers) rather than a duo of French knob twiddlers. Their loops and beats kept everyone occupied for the most part of the set but it was hard not to notice the absence of any special guests that they could have wheeled out for a landmark gig such as this. There was no sign of the notoriously tardy Uffie for 'Let's Get This Party Started' and surely anyone would have done for the familiar refrain of 'We Are Your Friends'. Instead we were treated to the sight of Augé and de Rosnay smoking fags and holding their arms aloft a lot. It's a setup that has served them well so far, but by the time the rain recommences for the encore, you can't help feel that Justice may need to come up with a few more tricks to keep their disciples happy.

Harry Powell

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