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Rating: They have “THE” in the name, they are omnipresent in both specialized and mainstream press, their production is curated by one of the most praised teams of the moment (DFA), they are from New York, they have their proper genre label (punk funk), in short, they present as the typical trap for those who fancy themselves alternative... but since their first and only album Echoes I consumed by screaming and dancing, here I am at Magazzini Generali hoping that the press campaign came after the group's inception and wasn't itself the one that created it.
Before them, the Dead Combo perform, hailing from Finland and presenting a rockabilly style à la Chris Isaak—a racket composed of voice, calculator beats emanating from a mini-moog, and heavy guitar, with an allusion to Sister Saviour as a gift to the hosts, Rapture. A girl next to me says that even the other songs are covers, which her friend told her, who came specifically to see them as they are his favorite band: they remind me of a mix between Jesus & Mary Chain and Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus, but after a very brief initial enthusiasm, they become mortally boring, and the question ready for the guy about which covers they played dies there.
The Rapture, however, start magnificently with an unexpected Infatuation, whose live intensity will maybe make it the true surprise of the evening. Then they literally stick to their label, dividing the concert into two distinct parts, the first being the punk, veered towards PIL with the performances of Heaven, Coming Of Spring, Echoes plus a new equally valid song...
What was good about the record is found intact live, but with the greater cohesion that's fair to demand from a band that truly knows how to play: the sax on the tail end of Open Up Your Heart, Gabe Andruzzi's cowbell dancing as if he were Bez from Happy Mondays, bassline and drums in perfect disco style, abrasive guitar riffs, and the clear references in the voices, with Luke Jenner doing Robert Smith screaming and Mattie Safer in the role of Johnny Lydon...
More Sister Saviour, then begins the second part, the funk with Olio's house keyboards starting: it may be true it sounds like A Forest by (THE!) Cure with Adamski's Killer base but live it's exceptional... over and over again on repeat reminds me of having recently heard even the original Robert Smith giving in to dance in Da Hype by Junior Jack, but it’s not even possible to compare a conventional dance product embellished by a luxury guest to the pure energy that comes from The Rapture's stage.
Then follows Killing with the two voices chasing each other, I Need Your Love, then House Of Jealous Lovers, which has now become a real anthem judging by the audience's response. It ends with Luke, as already in Open Up Your Heart, descending and hugging the audience; with his good boy look, he seems so sincere... he is destroyed and sweaty like us who have been dancing like mad so far: when the energy and enthusiasm communicated by a concert is as strong as with this band, one really thinks that despite the castle of citations, there is nevertheless the same innocence and genuineness in making them one's own, of those who truly loved those same artists... just like you.
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