Last Night: Little Boots, Dragonette, and Class Actress at the Fillmore

Richard Haick

Little Boots

​Little Boots, Dragonette, and Class Actress
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The Fillmore

Better than: Listening to a DJ play the same songs at a crowded nightclub.

The energy at last night's Fillmore show with Little Boots, Dragonette, and Class Actress was very mixed. While all those in attendance were obviously there for a reason, the crowd comprised showgoers who looked bored along with fans who knew every song backwards and forwards. Those attitudes of high enthusiasm and relative disinterest remained throughout the night. 

Richard Haick

Dragonette

​Personally, I was mainly interested in Brooklyn's Class Actress. The up-and-coming outfit caught my attention with its brand-new EP, Journal of Ardency. Walking in partway through the band's set was a bit disappointing, but Elizabeth Harper and her two band mates made up for what I missed with a pitch-perfect performance. The buoyant disco-pop tunes from Ardency were played with real passion, but it was obvious Class Actress was new to the big stage. It didn't help that the other bands' equipment sequestered the three-piece, and, at one point, snagged Harper's mic as she traipsed across the stage in a fit not unlike a teenager doing bedroom karaoke.

Richard Haick

Dragonette

​Dragonette stole the night both in performance and sound. Though the band's name didn't ring a bell initially, the group's opening, distorted electro jam "I Get Around" was instantly recognizable. Singer Martina Sorbara was a presence whose moves demanded attention. Through robotic dances, exaggerated gestures, and stoic poses, she led her group--and the crowd--in a relentlessly energetic and eventually cathartic set of dance tunes. Even when slower-paced ballads were coming from the trio, the audience's excitement was tangible throughout the Fillmore. As Dragonette finished its 45 minutes on stage--in a flurry of synths, drums, and singing of the highest caliber--cheers and applause exploded from the crowd, as if the Canadian band had been the headlining act. I couldn't imagine what would happen when Little Boots took the stage.