IN WHAT initially seemed to be one of the oddest gig-staging decisions imaginable, 1980s New York proto punk-funk outfit Liquid Liquid found themselves re-formed to honour Domino Records' 15th anniversary in the sit-down main hall at the Barbican.
In a space more suited to classical concerts, the quartet were incredible. An inspiration to all manner of contemporary dance music artists, such as LCD Soundsystem, the Rapture and Glasgow club Optimo (which got its name from the Liquid Liquid song and staged the afterparty in the foyer here), the band are a revelation in that they perform every part of their music live. This is dance music from the days before dance music as we know it – that is, house music – existed.
Singer Salvatore Principato, moustachioed and cropped like Sparks's Ron Mael, yelped and hollered his way through a precise and rhythmic set which was underpinned by Richard McGuire's epic basslines, all rumbling along like the subway underfoot on Seventh Avenue. Scott Hartley's drumming was fluid and dexterous, while Dennis Young inhabited an instrumental fun park in the corner of the stage.
How many other bands play with such fluidity and innovation as to leave even the non-musician impatiently awaiting the sound of the next new percussive device being struck? Many of the more atmospherically obtuse songs rightly deserved the term art-rock, but when the mighty Optimo or the Grandmaster Flash-influencing Cavern appeared, more and more bodies shuffled from their chairs.
The full article contains 253 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
