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Review Sun Nov 14 2010
Review: Robyn @ Metro, 11/13
2010 is shaping up to be Robyn's year. After too long being unhappy with the politics of the music industry, Robyn is now making and distributing music her way. This year's Body Talk EPs are more cohesive than her self-titled album; they tackle love, heartache and power directly and carry enough punch that the lyrics can't be just glossed over. Although she might not be on top of the pop charts, she's definitely found an audience. Saturday's Metro show sold out almost as soon as it went on sale and the crowd was eating out of her hands immediately.
As soon as she walked on stage, Robyn was pumping up the audience going back and forth from left to right sides. She is a ball of energy, constantly in motion and clearly having a blast. Even in ridiculous thick platform boots, she had the best moves all night. (Then again, it was so crowded hardly anyone had a chance to really show off.) The set was heavily skewed toward newer songs with grooving electronic hooks. Three of the first four were from Body Talk, Pt. 1; the highlight being "Dancing On My Own", a devastating electropop floorburner about watching your ex with their new squeeze. If it wasn't so upbeat, the protagonist would be considered psychotic. The soaring chorus had the masses in hysteria. "We Dance to the Beat" followed up to cool everyone down (and Robyn had a chance to eat a banana), but it wasn't long until the BPMs got a bump with "Love Kills" and the Royksopp collaboration "The Girl and the Robot." Her latest single "Indestructible" and "Dream On", one of only two cuts from her self-titled album, led into the Kleerup collaboration "With Every Heartbeat" that again had the crowd bouncing all over the room.
Where Robyn succeeds as a performer is not just in having good source material, but in being the life of the party. Only rarely and for dramatic effect does she not look like that stage is the only place for her. She playfully toys with the crowd, laughs with band members, dials up the appropriate campiness and generally appears like the happiest person ever because people are singing along to her music. (There was a great moment at the end of "Konichiwa Bitches" in the first encore where without a cue the entire crowd yelled, "You is a punk." Her joyous reaction displayed everything you'd need to know about the delight of a musician knowing their music is loved.) Only a tease of the first verse of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" felt a little generic (pandering to the crowd a bit?) before she ended with a very downtempo "Show Me Love" accompanied only by keys. If anything's to be gleaned from Saturday's show, it's that Robyn's on the way up and there ain't no stopping her now.