LIVE REVIEW: Ladyhawke Reverberates at The Echo


The synth-indie rock artist Ladyhawke performed at The Echo in Los Angeles on Monday night, staging a wonderful, joyful show which featured most of her musical repertoire. It was a packed evening at the venue as four artists preceded her 11th-hour entrance, including the rock-electro band American Royalty, who toured with Ladyhawke on her visit to the U.S. and Canada. Originally slated to perform at the nearby Echoplex in Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday night, Monday’s event was the last of her 16-day, 11-show North American tour, so degrees of tiredness and excitement for a final vocal push may have kept each other in check.

Known in “real life” as Pip Brown, Ladyhawke performed every track from her four-month-old second album, Anxiety, as well as much of her self-titled first album, barring the bonus (but, awesome) tracks, such as “Danny and Jenny“. Backing up the talented New Zealand native perform were four long-haired male band members on the guitar, bass, drums and synth, as they accompanied her own guitar and vocals. She mostly remained front and center throughout the show, aside from a few head-banging riffs and a tambourine solo on “The Quick and the Dead“. Contrary to the music that boasts an 80s pop/electro influence, Pip kept the set to a minimum, performing the songs straightforward without any reliance on the fancy LEDs and conveyed a humorous juxtaposition of booming fever pitches in the songs’ endings and her child-like squeals of “Thank you!” after each one. As part of the encore, she performed a solid cover of “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane, and ended the show with the song that brought Pip her initial burst of fame, My Delirium. In the audience, rocking out to the music were Deadmau5 and Kat Von D, but most exciting of all, Pip announced to the audience that she is moving to Los Angeles in a few months. If she ever needs a tour guide…

Ladyhawke | Paris Is Burning (Official Video)