Song of the Day: 'Systemagic' by Goldfrapp

(Photo by jamieonenyc)

As I mentioned Friday, Damian ended up with some last-minute tickets to see Goldfrapp. The whole thing was a bit of a lark: he was going to be coming from visiting his family in Jersey and I was working till 8 -- plus we were going to Connecticut the following day -- and the show was being held at a new venue in East Williamsburg that we weren't sure was easy to get to. But as fate would have it, Brooklyn Steel was a mere three stops into Brooklyn on the L train, and we were both able to get to the subway with time to spare. But naturally, there was an "incident" on the L that the cops were investigating, so we wound up having to schlep upstairs to catch an Uber -- tensions were running high at this point -- yet we somehow managed to get through rush-hour traffic and arrive just in time for the opening number, "Utopia" from the "Felt Mountain" debut. From there, the band did a thrilling and eclectic set of 18 songs, stunning us both with how instantly accessible the new songs (from an album we hadn't gotten yet) were, like "Anymore" (single one), "Systemagic" (single two) and the dreamy "Everything Is Never Enough." We were also treated to the exhilarating "Dreaming" off the band's 2010 masterpiece, "Head First." (Sadly, no "Rocket.")  They steered clear of "Tales of Us" (2013) and "Seventh Tree" (2008) but gave the crowd what they wanted with older numbers like "Ride a White Horse," "Ooh La La," "You Never Know," "Slide In," and "Number 1" from 2005's "Supernature," and "Train," "Strict Machine" and the title track from "Black Cherry," as well as "Lovely Head" and the aforementioned "Utopia" from their debut. Despite a bit of a Terminal 5 vibe, the new venue's sound and sight lines were much better, and the bar was pretty accessible. (And something about the band and the locale meant the crowd was 80% gay boys with mustaches and beards!) But even if the place had been awful, Alison Goldfrapp is a star (and a doll), which guaranteed a memorable night for all in attendance -- and indeed it was.