The historic Fonda Theatre had gathered a hearty crowd as the opening act, Night Drive, played their final track, “Rise and Fall.” The lights came on and phones went up in the air to snap pictures of the beautiful venue as the theatre continued to fill up with excited fans. Ladytron took the stage about a quarter past ten and greeted the crowd with a simple “Good evening.” The Liverpool based, electronic pop group has reached a new chapter in their musical career after their five-year hiatus. Los Angeles was clearly ready for their return, having sold out their show on March 1st, 2019, forcing them to add a second show the day before.
Their opening track, “Black Cat,” had its own set of graphics and jarring strobe lights to go along with it. So when the softer graphics and calm lighting changed to reflect the following song, “The Island,” it was very welcoming to the eyes. The hues of the lighting went from aquamarine blue to golden yellow as they moved into “Ghosts,” but brought back the harsh strobe lights with “Soft Power,” ironically. A common theme in the visuals became apparent; floating bodies and colorful patterns spun at different angles before the crowd.
The band expressed their disbelief that it had been eight years since performing in Los Angeles and quickly dove into “Paper Highways,” which came with white objects on a blood red background for visuals. They followed with “Deadzone” from their new, self-titled album. They went back to their roots with “Runaway,” from their 2008 album Velocifero, accompanied by a mesh of floral and colorful graphics.
With groups that have been around for as long as Ladytron has, setlists tend to contain a lot of their older music, and they were no exception. The show continued with songs such as, “White Elephant,” “International Dateline” and “Discotraxx.” Ladytron went heavy during their encore, covering “White Gold,” “Seventeen,” “Playgirl” and “Destroy Everything You Touch,” all songs from previous and beloved albums. Of course, the audience was more than happy for the abundance of tracks.
Setlist:
- Black Cat
- The Island
- Ghosts
- Soft Power
- The Animals
- Paper highways
- Deadzone
- Runaway
- Far From Home
- Fighting in Built Up Areas
- International Dateline
- You’ve Changed
- White Elephant
- Discotraxx
Encore:
- White Gold
- Playgirl
- Seventeen
- Destroy Everything You Touch
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