Gig Review: Confidence Man at Rock City

I’d heard only good things about Confidence Man coming into the gig, after their stellar set at Glastonbury and a rapidly developing reputation buzzing around amongst music lovers that they know how to put on a capital S Show. They had a lot of hopes to live up to, and somehow they blew any expectations I’d had out of the water with a performance I can only describe as kaleidoscopic, both musically and visually.

From the moment Janet and Sugar, the stage names of the band’s frontpeople, entered the stage, they made their mark. Dressed in Talking Heads-esque suits with comically large shoulder pads, incorporated into robotic movements, the audience were immediately captured. Opening with hilariously misandrist hit Toy Boy, I was mesmerised by their synchronicity, and found myself very quickly transported into their world. The mountains of stress I’d been feeling all week were swept away with just that first track; that’s the kind of magic that we were lucky enough to witness.

That state of optimism and glee only grew as Confidence Man injected a heavy dose of electricity into the crowd with infectiously groovy tracks like Woman, Does It Make You Feel Good? and Feels Like A Different Thing. One thing I particularly felt from their performance is how strongly they believe in their music and how much fun they have delivering their tunes to the people. They exuded their namesake confidence all night, which meant that we were completely buying everything that they were selling.

One of my favourite performances of the night was the track C.O.O.L Party, which perfectly served a sizable helping of camp, sass and audience participation in the form of YMCA like movements to spell C.O.O.L. Donning sunglasses and driving fake cars, the charismatic and charmingly witty lyrics were given a new lease of life in person. I’ve spent many an evening in my kitchen dancing along to the track with my boyfriend, who loves insisting that he’s a ‘cool party girl’, and it was entirely fulfilling to finally get to enter their ridiculously ‘cool party world’.  In a crowd with a very diverse range of ages, faces and even styles, it was clear that being a ‘cool party girl’ is a state of mind, and it’s a feeling that that everybody wants a slice of.

Continually throughout the night, Janet and Sugar would dance into the wings and give Clarence and Reggie on synth and drums, time to bring some incredible electro-pop while they changed their costumes. These shadowy figures, donned in massive black hats with comically large veils shone in these movements with hands creeping out to beckon the audience to lose themselves in the music. When Janet and Sugar returned to the stage, we’d be continually surprised with brand new costumes dripping with personality. From snakeskin, harnesses and a matching set of LED shoulder pads and an LED cone bra, we were continually visually stimulated by the pair, who’s sense of creativity extends far beyond the music. It’s a sugar-fuelled, package filled to the brim with whimsy and ludicrousness that’s everything you’d expect from them, and somehow also more.

While their set was highly choreographed, there were still plenty of moments of audience engagement and interactions, with both Janet and Sugar continually willing the people to move, though the people did not need any convincing. Usually at gigs, you can expect to see all the people in the middle giving it everything, and then some light foot tapping on the outskirts. Whether you were on the front, the back, the side, the balcony, the bar… everybody was moving. During Boyfriend (Repeat), they got everyone to get down as low as possible before releasing an incredible burst of energy, erupting into life. As much as they were a spectacle and a sight to behold, I still felt completely included and invited into their performance.  

One of their titan hits, Holiday, was immediately recognised by the audience from the opening psychedelic synths, inviting the audience to escape into that enticing summer feeling that the track is jam-packed full of. The contagious track perfectly captures a transporting sense of hedonism, really furthering that overwhelming feeling of bliss that the night generated. The earworm placed us in what felt like a euphoric trance, but simultaneously into a state of complete freedom to do nothing else but dance.

Acrobatics, hair flips, theatrics; the band maintained a sense of unrelenting energy for their entire set. And you know what? At no point during the gig did I feel like I needed a rest; I was pumped and ready to dance for hours and hours and hours. After the encore, plenty of people waited around and danced in the open space to I Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You, spinning their friends around in a state of complete post-gig euphoria. Why would we ever want to leave the brilliant, technicolour world of Confidence Man?

rock-city.co.uk