Gig review: Calvin Harris

Published on Thursday 5 November 2009 17:58

CALVIN HARRIS **** O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW

IN LITTLE over two years, Calvin Harris has gone from bedroom boffin creating tunes on an antiquated Amiga computer to chart-topping pop star fronting a dance pop extravaganza with elaborate disco light-show and full band including screaming diva backing singer, various button-pushers and a percussionist who plays like a drumming monkey toy.

Few dance producers choose to step out from the shadows and front their own creation, but Harris embraced the role, barely touching the gadgets at his fingertips in favour of rocking the microphone and dancing.

Despite his enthusiastic MCing, he remains an unlikely frontman. But he has a serviceable voice, and the crowd responded to his exhortations to party with chants of "here we f****** go!" and, in one instance, by throwing lingerie onstage – a training bra, Harris noted with some disappointment.

More likely, they were responding helplessly to his unabashed, unstinting party soundtrack, which allies the escapist call to the dancefloor with infernally catchy tunes. "It's Wednesday night," roared Harris, in case anyone had lost the place or possibly to remind himself that it was time to play Ready For The Weekend.

When he did bring down the pace, it was with a keyboard interlude. But this was merely a pause before a burst of Dance Wiv Me, his hit collaboration with Dizzee Rascal.

The strength of Harris's celebratory live show is that he really knows his way round a hook, and it was the audience's pleasure to keep up with him all the way to the synthquake climax of I'm Not Alone.