Photo: Carsten Windhorst
“I know that most of you wanna give me a blow job” says Har Mar Superstar. It’s only 8.30 and already the extroverted American is half naked, save for a pair of black and white striped Y-Fronts. Not a pretty sight by any stretch of the imagination, or the underwear elastic for that matter, but the Lynx deodorant spokesman is on top form and in danger of outshining tonight’s headline act. It’s an action packed 40 minutes of the most enjoyable camp, electro-clash brilliance you’re ever likely to witness. At first the audience don’t really know what to do, perhaps they’re scared and who can blame them. Right from the off Har Mar Superstar takes great pleasure in blatantly flaunting his exaggerated sexual prowess and even greater pleasure in Koko’s collective shocked reaction.
But it’s all good; Crotch thrusting his way through ‘Sunshine’, doing press up’s whilst singing ‘Cut Me Up’ (written with Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s) and putting Moses to shame by easily parting the crowd as he straddles the barrier to sing ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’ the crowd soon get the idea and lap it up. As the set goes on with the likes of ‘DUI’, ‘Girls Only’ and ‘Brothers And Sisters’ his clothes gradually peel off until the Ron Jeremy-esque showman is left standing in just his pants. The set ends with ‘Power Lunch’ sung in parts upside down (don’t ask) before this most brilliant of support acts leaves the stage with a casual “Come on, I’m fucking awesome.”
How the hell do you follow something like that? Quite simple… bring on Sia, dressed as a fluorescent half-human/half- machine to open with the bouncy You Tube hit ‘Buttons’. The crowd instantly grab hold of it with both hands and then some and Sia looks positively stunned. Dispensing with the costumes, which end up scattered alongside the countless cuddly toy’s and neon tube lighting that adorn the stage, any ice that the Australian songstress felt needed breaking has been well and truly broken and Sia can start to relax. Although still visibly overwhelmed, she soon settles down and launches into the naturally amazing ‘Little Black Sandals’, followed by the effortlessly passionate ‘Lentil’ and the spine tingling ‘Day Too Soon’ which showcases her powerfully unique vocal range and puts many of her contemporaries to shame with graceful ease. Renowned as a performer who does more than just get up and sing, interaction and banter are staples of her live show; in fact if she could make it to the bar, she’d probably offer to buy a round for the whole of Koko, but there’s no chance she’d make it through the sell out crowd.
Next up is ‘The Co-Dependent’, the song that her previous record company thought would confuse and alienate her fans; there’s no danger of that happening tonight and like the rest of her set, her sugar coated take on punchy pop goes down a storm, as do ‘I Go To Sleep’ and ‘Death By Chocolate’. Any previous notion of Har Mar Superstar upstaging her has well and truly been dismissed, but he does make a guest appearance for ‘Academia’ and ‘The Girl You Lost To Cocaine’ lying on the stage for “snuggle time” cuddling up to one of her many stuffed toys. Once again it’s time for Sia to mesmerise the crowd into submission with the honey velvet delivery of ‘You Have Been Loved’, the funky strut of ‘Playground’ and for all the Zero 7 lovers out there, ‘Destiny’. Six months ago, you’d be hard pushed to find Sia do an encore, she simply doesn’t believe in them, but not wanting to “deprive you all of a climax” she’s changed her ways and after the briefest of stage exits she’s back on, shimmying along to ‘Distractions’ but like all good things its over far too soon.
To say that Sia’s performance tonight was stunning would not only be a massive understatement but an insult. A rising star in the making, she’s elevated herself into a league of her own and can arguably claim to hold the hottest ticket in town.
CLICK HERE to see the full gallery from the KOKO show
