Lois and the Love - Live Review at The Macbeth, Hoxton

She prowls across the stage like a tiger... the band her tribal heart-beat. The red neon lit stage and tight space en-cages them. As they strike up the opening chords you feel like you're on the edge of an explosion about to be reeled back in from that dangerous abyss € This is 'Lois and the Love' live at The Macbeth in Hoxton. Kicking in with a Stooges style riff is live opener 'Take You Back' - Lois manoeuvres round the stage like a feline erotic queen warming immediately to her task. The track soon develops into Talking Heads during 'Psycho Killer' phase making the band so tight musically from the off the audience are hooked from riff one with this track. Showcasing their superb musical hybrid diversity is 'Real Love' matching 'funky energetic ska' sounds into one original creation. Lois's stage persona growing into that of a animalistic performance (think early Kate Bush) the audience are entranced. Live standard bearer 'Eye Of The Storm' follows like a whirlwind swirling you left and right, up and above... The raw energy placing you into their storm with the band pointing forward guiding you through. As it finishes you feel emotionally exhausted. They are born to do this song. 'Techno Feet' takes us into space cake / prog rock mode €“ I'm already amazed by how many different musical sub genre styles the band can take you into without ever feeling out of place. The riff at the start Bernard Butler during his Suede faze would have died for. Lois screams out €œcry, cry, cry€ like an untamed tribeswoman. After these four opening songs I'm punch drunk wondering what's going to hit me next. Pulled in five different directions from Lois's performance stage owning vocals, to Dean and Paul's master riffs, to Oli's 'B52 Bomber' sounding bass, and Eddie's hypnotic drum beats - all of them masters of their crafts. Just over half way through the set the band treat the mesmerized audience to 'War' from their upcoming July EP release. This lyric filled masterpiece has an extremely melancholy vibe to it, sung and performed from the heart, anger in the words spoken, menace to the music. The high pitched notes emotionally impacting you with what's at stake. The neon red lights a warning sign for all €œain€™t going to fight this war€ the band strobe in and out of darkness... the light at the end of the tunnel believe in the soul, the one. After the emotional release of the previous song, the band strike back up into a storming marching crescendo with 'Daddy' - there's an aggressive intent in the band's music, Lois like a lion released from her cage clawing out to the audience. The band seem to know exactly where she's going both vocally and movement wise, they're working on some sixth sense €“ a freedom of expression without ever leaving one another out of the loop €“ I feel kind of jealous, I want on this too! My personal favourite from the evening is 'Dark Serenade' the band changing sound like chameleons once more into a bluesy riff. The emotionally charged lyrics sung by Lois combine with her swaggering round like Janis Joplin. This soul blues has the band as her masters holding her back from the edge of darkness the lyrics are foreboding. Its hypnotic changing pace to a higher tempo € then crashing and burning back down to the very heart of this epic sweeping of scales serenade. 'Rabbit Hole' is the gig closer already with a large following through its superbly directed psychedelic video. This frantic explosive foot stomper has the band racing the audience to the end with a barrage of punches €“ relentless riffs speed in and out with dirty sleaze and wilding screams, sweat perspiring from everyone... BAM! THE END... But the audience wont let these master puppeteers leave our strings hanging, we demand, we shout, we cry out for one more song... The band walk back on performing 'Star Crossed Lovers' as their encore using pure exhaustion as their final piece of energy. Not forgetting their audience Lois interacts with them for this finale. They all own the stage like a kingdom and us their subjects from vocals, to guitar, to bass, to drums... A final peace sign goodbye, lights go down... I'm left exhausted as if I was up on stage with them. Without a doubt Lois has the stage swagger of Janis Joplin, the dramatic performance of Kate Bush and vocals of Patti Smith in her prime. Dean and Paul's guitar riffs are fantastic combining so many different styles they intertwine like Richards and Jones at their peak (Stones). Oli (bass) and Eddie (drums) control the temper like Entwistle and Moon challenging each other (The Who). As I leave I can't help thinking of the Dylan line 'This is the story of the hurricane' as the band have picked the audience up, thrown them around, left them spinning and wanting more of the frill their live set brings. This is the way all live gigs should be. You can catch Lois and the Love next Wednesday for their final night of residency at The MacBeth, I'd advice going to see them 'by hook or by crook'. Facebook page / http://www.facebook.com/loisandthelove Twitter page / http://twitter.com/#!/Lois_andtheLove