Thursday 19/02/09 La Roux @ Notting Hill Arts Club, London

The flamed-haired tip for greatness in 2009 has a lot to live up to. Only a few gigs in and the impossibly cool duo, fronted by the captivating Elly Jackson, are already ramming the Notting Hill Arts Club to the rafters. Are the punters here for the reinvented 80s glam pop on the tiny stage however, or the electro scene that is swamping the start of the year?

If the sea of neon t-shirts is anything to go by, it appears to be the latter. Most of the youthful crowd spend the night wittering away to each other during the short set, missing the intricacies of 20-year-old Jackson’s delicate voice on the quieter tracks. Hard to tell whether these rumblings ruin the music, or La Roux simply doesn’t hold up to the hype.

Launching into 'In For The Kill' La Roux looks like she’s from another planet. The planet of cool, where everyone wears multi-coloured shoulder pads, giant watch pendants and glitter face paint. Partner in crime Ben Langmaid lets her take centre stage where she inevitably will be spending much of the year.

Taking a few tracks to get her Bowie groove on, Elly has little banter and plays with her falling red quiff nervously. The cautiousness quickly evaporates, however, and she finds a cocky swagger to her performance. Highlight is recent single 'Quicksand', obviously. The debut – put out on Kitsune Music – is the only track most people know. So far that is. Prince influences are never far away from the highly anticipated record due later this year. You like Kiss, you’ll love Quicksand.

By the time we hit the pounding heart of 'Bullet Proof', any early boredom is forgotten. The hype has foundations. There may be a brace of electro offerings to distract your mind from the fading guitar bands generation, but despite the slow start, this really is an act to watch. No Little Boots comparison here, just La Roux. No, wait, there it was...