Cut Copy at The Button Factory |Review

Cut Copy at The Button Factory, Dublin, 14th of April 2014

In 24 Hour Party People, the film that depicts the rise and fall of the Manchester music scene in the ’80s, Tony Wilson (as portrayed by Steve Coogan) explains what a momentous thing the Happy Mondays, New Order et al managed to create by fusing dance and rock music together. “This is it,” he says. “The birth of rave culture. The beatification of the beat. The dance age. This is the moment when even the white man starts dancing.”

We’re a long way from the halcyon days of Madchester now but there are still a few who are willing to take up the baton and try to keep the spirit of ’89 alive. The latest to take on the challenge are the Aussie group Cut Copy, whose most recent album ‘Free Your Mind’ is an homage to the beginnings of acid house and rave. Dance music has always been a huge part of the band’s repertoire but it hasn’t been foregrounded quite as much as it is on the new record.

As the opening synth melody of We Are Explorers opens this show in The Button Factory, this influence comes through loud and clear, as if frontman Dan Whitford’s tie-dye t-shirt wasn’t enough of a clue already. With a classic guitar, drums and bass set-up, this is a rock show in appearance but the atmosphere created is closer to a particularly psychedelic club night.

The fact that they are a band up there makes all the difference though. It’s easy to lose interest in a DJ playing pre-recorded music but the physicality of this show makes it impossible to simply let the music wash over you.

Whitford acts as the instigator, raising his hands to the crowd at every opportunity like a puppeteer demanding movement. Guitarist Tim Hoey is also noticeably energetic, already throwing his mic stand around during the first song and attacking a drum machine for Take Me Over.

With the new house-influenced direction of their music, some of the older material has been beefed up a bit. Saturdays is a light and airy pop tune on record but is given a meatier overhaul here, likewise with Feel the Love.

When some of their bigger tunes like Hearts on Fire are run through fairly early in the show, it seems a bit baffling that they have never had what you would call a proper “hit”. There is hardly a lull in the entire show; the songs are as well-crafted as any top 40 pop song.

The climax arrives with Let Me Show You Love, the lead single from the new album, which drives along on a monstrous house beat. The possibly seizure-inducing visuals combine with the trippy music to make you wonder if somebody has put something in your drink when you weren’t looking.

Closer Lights and Music is slightly less intense but is one of the better singles the band has produced and is one of the better sing-along moments.

The encore of the relatively subdued Walking in the Sky and Need You Now suggests that perhaps the band needs to fiddle with the setlist a bit but there is enough good will lingering from earlier to make up for this.

What the band are doing isn’t entirely original but they’ve been doing it well for about a decade and when they put on a show this good, it’s hard to imagine anyone attending will care.