Thursday 28/08/08 Lykke Li @ Le Poisson Rouge New York, NY

by Ilona Klaver
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Photo by: Lauryn Levin

Watch Lykke Li - 'Breaking It Up'

Tambourine in hand, Lykke Li comes into focus on the rotunda stage of Downtown New York's Le Poisson Rouge through flashes of light as band and fans surround the star. Opening in the dark with 'Dance, Dance, Dance', one can't help but do just that - there is no way to stand still as her energy along with long blonde tresses and wonderfully spastic dance moves shoot at each and everyone watching. All songs are a game for Li as she flirts with the crowd shimmying her shoulders and pulling at her shirt tails, exposing an all black ensemble showing a maturity many artists never find. An all around performer, all eyes are on Li in the center of the room as she continuously rouses the crowd with clapping, banging a cymbal to the beats of most songs with a single drumstick, playing a mini-trumpet and making sure to give plenty of face time to every corner of the room.

With Complaint Department she keeps the tone low, as is her style, but here and there hits notes one wouldn't think she contained. You find yourself wishing she'd just give up the innocent act and belt the
chords of ballads you know are hiding within her and with which you get a glimpse of in the eerie but honest 'Hanging High' which had everyone swaying along. With her confidence, you don't want to believe she's only 23 but her sweet voice and the fun she has on stage proves how young at heart she truly is.

A cover of Vampire Weekend's 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa' which in broken Swenglish she professes the song "isn't mine" is followed by her first single 'Little Bit'. With pauses for superfans to fill in the gaps of "Oh, Oh Oh, Oh, Oh Oh", the familiar song made the crowd confess they're in la-la-la-la-love with Lykke Li. Slowing it down with a trance-like hypnotism, a melancholy 'Window Blues' is sung to tell the story of a "bad boyfriend" followed by the emotive 'Tonight' whos conclusion was easily one of the poignant and chill inducing moments of the night.

The circular room and the moody greens and blues flooding down from above are the perfect setting for Li's set. She's friendly and playful with the crowd, grabbing to sip the beers that are offered from below after exclaiming that she needs a drink. When she turns your way, you can only beg for her to make eye contact, to look in your direction and blow you a kiss. Like a queen to her people, the audience is thankful for a wave, a glimpse of flesh or a wink from those heavily lined raccoon eyes as she coos through her set. Incorporating an on-stage megaphone throughout the 50 minute show, crouching down and hunching over, she uses it powerfully in her finale, 'Breaking It Up', introduced again in that cute foreign accent, Lykke proclaims it is a "special time - eet ees the last song, motherfuckers". (The bit of profanity comes as a shock and again reminds the audience that she isn't all serious business, not at all.)

The encore included Li by herself behind piano sweetly wimpering through 'Time Flies' and then taking a walk on the wild side as her band launched into an enthusiastic cover of A Tribe Called Quest's 'Can I Kick It?',which quickly erupted into the venue singing along telling her "she can". Submerging into the sea of admirers without saying much of a goodbye, it is all too clear that the multi-faceted, multi-talented Lykke Li made everyone want more of the wonderful "Little Bit" they got.