By Nicole DeRosa
The popular English electro/pop duo La Roux headlined the Fonda Theatre on Thursday, April 18th as part of Goldenvoice's week of Coachella side gigs. It was a great opportunity to experience the duo's live show in a small scale with a setting as perfect as the Fonda.
La Roux and its memorably coiffed lead singer, Elly Jackson transported the crowd to the '80s. Jackson is clearly the audience draw. She is a dynamic pop star, with her naturally androgynous appearance and bleeding-heart voice. She is unique without having to try too hard, which is part of what endears her to her fans. La Roux's eponymous and only debut album won the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album in 2011.
La Roux's music is influenced by 1980s British synthpop including Yazoo, Erasure, Depeche Mode, The Human League, and Eurythmics. The band's name refers to Jackson's red hair and tomboyish appearance, mingling the masculine (le roux) and feminine (la rousse) French terms.
Fans were delighted by and treated to nearly a full album performance which started with disco-pop delight, "In For The Kill" and kept the dance party momentum going with other fan favorites like, "Colourless Colour", "Quicksand", "Kiss and Not Tell", and "Tropical Chancer".
The laser party seemed to never stop and the crowd went bonkers as the intro to La Roux's biggest hit, "Bulletproof" started up for their encore. The band clearly knew how to lure the audience in and bring them to a musical ear candy climax.
The band will play another show at the Coachella festival and then head to New York to play the Electric Daisy Carnival on May 17th with three smaller warm up shows in Spain, Russia and Portugal in July.
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