Coachella 2013: Vive La Roux!

Erika Brooks Adickman | April 15, 2013 9:27 am

The people are hungry for the return of La Roux! The British synth-poppers had been dormant for a while but emerged with four new songs at a show earlier this month, three of which they brought to an overflow crowd at the Mojave tent at Coachella Sunday night (April 14). Swirling winds transformed the grounds at the Empire Polo Club into a giant cloud of dirt, so festival-goers sought shelter in the tented stages — and apparently all the lovers made a beeline for the pulsing sheen of La Roux, because their show had the highest makeout quotient that I witnessed all weekend. Yes, even more than The xx‘s crowd. After all, in order to kiss, you have to be awake. (No but really, we love The xx!)

Elly Jackson‘s synth-pop project opened with “In For The Kill,” “Colourless Colour” and “Quicksand,” immediately transporting the crowd to 1988, via 2009. Soon after, she gave us the funkier new tracks “Kiss and Not Tell,” “Sexotheque” and “Tropical Chancer,” their lean grooves the perfect vehicle for Jackson’s stoically cool dance moves. If this is the type of stuff we can look forward to on La Roux’s sophomore album, then it’s time to start getting very excited, folks.

The band finished up with “Fascination” and “Bulletproof,” the latter of which had the whole tent singing along during the refrain for one of the most jubilant moments of weekend 1. It’s good to have La Roux back in our lives.