GiggingNI.com
Little Boots
With Nakatomi Towers;
Take a dismally cold November night, a converged audience of beer swigging, cooler-than-thou twenty-somethings hanging around Belfast's Mandela Hall, and you might expect the scene to be completed with the generic guitar riffs of the latest bunch of indie blokes to squeeze into a pair of skinny jeans and form a band. You'd be wrong. The artist everyone's waiting for tonight is none other than Little Boots, a.k.a Victoria Hesketh, the disarmingly unique 'Sound of 2009'.
As a songwriter commonly associated with the 'MySpace Boom' of bedroom musicians who has posted YouTube videos of herself covering everything from Wham to MGMT in her pyjamas, it would be easy to assume that Hesketh would be more at home behind a laptop than performing to a packed venue. Yet the fresh faced 25 year old has spent the year hitting the road and building up a loyal fanbase, while simultaneously riding the wave of media hype as the sequin clad darling of the UK music press. Awaiting the arrival of the girl hailed as 'Blackpool's equivalent of Kylie', who saw in 2009 amidst a flurry of magazine covers, interviews and award nominations, prior even to releasing her critically acclaimed debut album 'Hands', it is perhaps fair to say that, despite their excitement, a large portion of the crowd are prepared to be disappointed, by an act who could easily transpire to be nothing more than another one hit wonder who doesn't live up to the praise.
Unfortunately, the opening song doesn't do much to allay our fears. Beginning with a little-known album track, 'Ghost', doesn't exactly inspire confidence, as Hesketh settles into her seat behind a synthesiser, and starts into a song the vast majority of the audience, bar the more die-hard fans, have probably never heard. Although, in her defence, as she steps into the spotlight out of the smoke which obscures the back of the stage, she is oozing cool, a vision in a dress which may or may not have been fashioned from tinfoil.
Thankfully, Boots then decides it's time to bring out the big guns. 'New In Town', which achieved relative success as a single earlier this year, proves a relief to a crowd who are, by this point, expecting a playlist of obscure tunes from the back catalogue.
'Your reputation proceeds you, Belfast. I've heard you're a rowdy bunch'; quips the petite and bubbly blonde, 'Are you ready to get rowdy?'
The answer is a resounding yes, although I fear that may have more to do with a few Budweisers than her ability to work the crowd into a frenzy, as Hesketh's entire concept of stage presence consists of walking from one side of the stage to another, raising her arms in exaggerated slow motion, as if she were about to take flight. The song that follows, however, marks one of the evening's high points, as the dark harmonies and assuredly confident vocals of 'Mathematics' woo the audience. 'You'll see nothing can divide just a heart plus a heart', croons Boots. Pythagoras' theorem has never sounded so sexy.
Regrettably, the stripped-down and starkly minimalist re-imagining of 'Symmetry' which comes next does the song no favours, as it lacks the vitality and strength of its original recording. By contrast, disputably the highlight of the evening comes in the form of three killer hits played back to back. The pint-sized songstress launches into latest single, 'Earthquake', one suspects, much indebted to the early work of Madonna. Fiddling with the settings of the ever-present Tenori-on before bursting into the rapturously-received garage beats of 'Meddle', Boots next unleashes the stupendous, Soft Cell-reminiscent choruses of 'Remedy', a recent chart hit, upon a crowd who sing back en masse, word perfect.
'Thank you, Belfast', smiles Hesketh, bowing into the wings for the shortest interval in history. Before the crowd even have time to finish their chant; 'One More Song', she's back.
The following song, 'Echo', proclaimed as, 'really new', sees Boots stray out of her comfort zone, into what can only be described as ballad territory, and doesn't go down a treat with an audience who more or less lose interest half way through. Hesketh may have a good voice, but it is by no means amazing, and she is out of her depth without the backing that has proved characteristic to her sound, as she has only the aid of a keyboard to rely on.
As the set closes with 'The song that started it all', the anthemic 'Stuck on Repeat', the crowd singing along to every word, it is apparent that Little Boots' appeal has the potential, even if not yet fully realised, to stretch far beyond the confines of cyberspace. She might write good songs, and play them well, but the downfall of her performance lies in the fact that it lacks any real passion or intensity; rather, it just feels like she's going through the motions. Dubbed, 'The Future of Music' by critics and fans alike, and living up to the title in an outfit that looks as though it might have been borrowed from the set of Star Wars, Hesketh has given a competent and professional performance, interspersed with occasional banter, though one devoid of any real stage persona or sense of showmanship.
Retiring offstage after a set that is short and sweet, much like the singer herself, Little Boots certainly is an intriguing artist, yet it is clear that she has some way to go before becoming a great one.
