In 1999 Soulwax engraved themselves onto the live circuit.  The Tour that revolved around their first British album, ‘Much against everyone’s advice’  saw the band play feverous sets up and down the U.K with alarming frequency.   The shows were passionate, energetic, and above all, fun.

A lot has changed in the five years since the quirky Belgian band with a penchant for flashing mic-stands, sharp suits and Casio guitar showboating have been away.  The main change being the brothers Dewales rapid shot to fame under the D.J. guise of Too Many DJ’s. And as the Too Many D.J’s guise got bigger and bigger, it seems that Soulwax as a band became more and more forgotten. That was until a few months ago, when the third Soulwax album ‘Any Minute Now’ hit the shelves, and the band hit the road.

So it is with baited breath that the audience waits for Soulwax 2004, post D.J fame to come onstage to remind us of what a fantastic live band they are.  Only what we are expecting isn’t necessarily what we get.   Initially the band are on top form.  The tunes come thick and fast, mainly from the new album.  ‘E-talking’ and ‘Any Minute Now’ kicking off the gig and setting a frentic pace that never slackens for the next forty minutes. But something is missing, and as someone who LOVES Soulwax I hate to say it, but it is the Humour that is missing. 

It’s as if Soulwax are trying too hard to be a serious band, something that never had to rest on their shoulders back in 1994.  And it’s that need to prove they’re a serious band that sees little contact between the band and the audience.  All spontaneity is lost.  I never thought I’d say it but Soulwax put in a very workmanlike performance. 

Towards the end of the set, we get a flashback to the wayback with the track ‘too many DJ’s’, now minus the all-important human beatbox breakdown, before things get quite bad.  The shift is nearly over, the workers are slacking, and something click’s in David Dewale’s voice.  It begins to think it belongs to Ian Brown and starts wailing all over the place, everywhere but in the right tune.  The set ends with ‘N.Y.Excuse’, a good track that seems out of place on the album, but performed live, it was empty, the urgency stripped from it’s bones, lazy. Waiting to end.

This is the first night of this U.K jaunt for Soulwax, and maybe they’re just finding their feet, but if they don’t find them fast, it looks like their career as a band won’t be going as far as the places they find themselves playing as popular D.J’s.

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