Desire @ XOYO, London (Live Review)
- Published in Live
Desire
XOYO
Words & Pics by Captain Stavros
It’s a school night, across from a school, at XOYO where we’ve just passed by a two-metre vertical neon banner subtly flashing, ‘SEX’ blindingly at us. We continue on descending into a lair filled to the brim with latex and vinyl clad disco vampires, peppered with a dash of Pierrot make-up to boot. Enough about the French though, because as we all know, Italians Do It Better. A third of their way through their two-month European stint, Megan ‘Desire’ Louise is out pumping their upcoming third full-length studio release, Games People Play, which drops on Valentine’s Day.
The last time we caught Desire, at the Roundhouse in 2019, they were supporting/heralding the death of The Chromatics. Megz had been on our (and everyone else’s) radar when ‘Spell Bound’, also on tonight’s setlist, blew up the spot after being featured alongside label mates Chromatic’s ‘Tick of the Clock’ on 2009’s Drive soundtrack. Rocketing out onto the stage with a plastic Martini glass in tow, it was a mostly forgettable performance. That was then though, this is now.
Desire evolves beyond an image defined by plastic party receptacles, and now favours pouring out instead. On tap, you ask? A shaken, but not stirred, sci-fi, lo-fi, anime infused synth-tonic, semiotic backdrop, with a twist. The crowd drank it down and came back for seconds. It was impossible to know where to look at any given time. An immersive live action Escher of visual delights lay before us. The absolutely overwhelming spectacle of screens, props, sound, wardrobe, or lack thereof, and lights, had one struggling to maintain focus at any singular point for too long for fear of being mesmerized like a deer in the headlights or the low-key shame for some of walking into an adult themed bookstore.
Gone are the days of ‘fake it till ya make it’ bravado because when Megan cabarets on to the stage, plastic Martini glasses give way to a red vinyl trenchcoat and cut-throat choker. In tow, and on keys, looking as signaturely sharp as ever is Johnny ‘Alice Cooper’ Jewel in a technotronic studded leather jacket, alongside Louise Eva sporting a pair of smoke dark leaks, equally as flammable. Leading into the set, things heat up quickly with tracks like ‘Bang Bang’ and ‘Human Nature’. Megan lures the audience deeper down a taunting rabbit hole, peeling off layers till she’s left in a vinyl corset contraption (barely there) held up by sheer will alone. Covering New Order’s ‘Bizzare Love Triangle’, with lyrics splashing on the screen behind her, she encourages us to sing along with her karaoke style which, of course, we all do with little encouragement needed. A silent contract between audience and entertainer is broken halfway through when Megan looks down and notices she’s busted out, “You’ve gotta tell me when the titties bust out!”, she teases coquettishly to a jaw-dropped audience. Her crowd work is hypnotic and her choreography well-rehearsed. She roves the stage tossing roses, dipping and kicking in stiletto thigh highs flirting with the audience and relentlessly accosting her bandmates who can’t get enough of it.
Johnny Jewel’s a dark spectacle on the stage, he manages to coax Megan back onto the stage, “Playing with my heart? Finish what you start”, where we’re treated to a Twin Peaks backdrop, a shout-out to Charlotte from FedEx who got the albums over ASAP from customs and a new cut, ‘Drama Queen’; “On the road? Torture mode”. Megan, now covered in an elegant sheen of beaded sweat, doesn’t stop there, she keeps the night alive; inviting all who’ve attended to an afterparty at The Standard where she DJs alongside Johnny dropping deep cuts from across the Italians Do It Better back catalogue til 2am. Every sense was accosted throughout the night, and we left overwhelmed, and slightly inebriated, after multiple rounds of vodka shots with the Divine crew. These slickly packaged, talented lot are making their way across the continent if you’ve got a strong Desire to be entertained, get on out there and get freaky you bunch of lovely disco vampires.
