“Lucie Jones – 11/4,” offered the sign in the window of the bookie’s shop close to the Bodega Social Club. It referred, of course, to this year’s X-Factor favourite.
Had Simon Cowell – the self-appointed arbiter of the nation’s musical tastes – and his cronies been holding their auditions at the Social tonight, it’s debatable whether the talent on the stage would have made it beyond the first round of the show’s stage-managed route to stardom. But in no way is that a criticism of either act: The Xx may not have the mass-market appeal of the likes of Ms. Jones (who, for the record, has a cracking singing voice); but they are possessed of an infinitely more valuable resource: originality.
First up was the support act: the Trailer Trash Tracys. When your gig ticket has a face value of £7.50, you almost expect the warm-up material to be a little flaky; but not this lot. Exquisite, sparkling, chilled-out guitar melodies were complemented by a beautiful, soaring vocal from the female lead singer. Despite the compact venue and tightly-packed crowd, it was not difficult to lose yourself in their sound.
After the interval came the headline set. The four-piece Xx lined up at the front of the stage, giving equal prominence to all of the band’s members. Their set-list consisted of much of the material on their eponymous debut album: relaxed, warm numbers, consisting of a distinct London R&B flavour, plaintive guitars, and their trademark pared-down male/female vocal duet. Somehow, hearing the tracks played live served to magnify their uniqueness, with greater emphasis on the drum-machine track and the electronic aspect of the music.
If there’s a jukebox in heaven, then I’d expect both of these bands to feature prominently, such is the relaxed, almost ethereal ambience of their music. Sadly, down on Earth, the music industry is influenced far too heavily by a middle-aged bloke in a tight T-shirt and denims and his pals. If those Beavis-alike twins nominated for the live finals by Louis Walsh ever achieve greater success than either of the outstanding bands on display tonight, then there really is no justice in the world.
Despite their indisputable talent, I’m sad to report that my money won’t be on The Xx to score this year’s Christmas Number One.