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LIVE: Robyn Saves Pop Music
Tuesday May 06, 2008 @ 04:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
May 5, 2008
Toronto, ON
Phoenix Concert Theatre
By Phil Villeneuve
Monday night at the Phoenix was like walking into the church of pop. The super-hip and super-gay legions were all in attendance, ready to hear the preacher.
Little did the congregation know they would experience a musical miracle. A truly spiritual moment of pop from the ordained bionic woman, the saint konichiwa bitch herself, Robyn.
Churchgoers saw sparks many times throughout a concert that lasted less than an hour-and-a-half, but that was nothing compared to the brightly burning whiteness at the very end of the show, which will be divulged later. First though, the service:
All religious analogies aside, seeing Robyn in concert is something anyone who likes good pop music must do.
After a dramatic but appreciated electronic chamber pop set from Montreal's Elsiane, Robyn floated on stage in her villainous black cape and spandex uniform. From the moment the tiny blonde wonder opened her mouth she had the entire audience entranced, hanging on every move and lyric.
When she told the audience they were "a beautiful crowd who looks very smart and who have very good taste in music," it only drove them more wild. This was her first Canadian show in 10 years and it felt like almost everyone in the room had been counting down the days in anticipation.
After beginning the set with a bombastic "Cobrastyle" with her keyboard player and two drummers, Robyn quickly sang her way through most of her self-titled album. At this point, that album is pretty much a greatest hits record. Since it's been in circulation since 2005, most of the crowd could sing every lyric. They cheered, jumped and pumped their fists to every song, even the b-sides, collaborations or covers.
What many forget, especially now that Robyn's an internet and indie dance music heroine, is that she was once an R&B princess. Thankfully, the soul in her vocals really shines through live. With that voice she can't help but put her hands on her hips, make diva faces and get all Whitney on the audience.
The woman's moves also won over the packed venue. Part dirty dancehall and part hip-hop with splashes of punk, gospel and buckets of shameless pop bounce, Robyn used every inch of the stage to physically drum up the energy for each song. Sadly, even though the crowd adored her, it was still in that typical Toronto bob-on-the-spot way and not the all-out cathartic audience blowout it should have been.
Maybe they weren't dancing because they were simply entranced. After a quick interlude made up of "Push It," "Buffalo Stance" and her remixed version of Snoop's "Sexual Eruption," Robyn was able to bring down the mood in seconds to sing an a cappella version of "Eclipse." It was all hits and minimal banter from that point on with the white soul woman gave 100 per cent. She grinded, twirled and flawlessly sang her way to an inevitable end with glorious renditions of "With Every Heartbeat," "Dream On," retro-rarity "Keep This Fire Burning" and, for the ladies, "Handle Me" (during which she was finally able to sing "Nazi creep" without it being edited out).
When the end came, Robyn did what every person (who was old enough to remember) hoped and prayed she would. Accompanied by only her keyboard player, she sang a stripped down rendition of her '97 hit "Show Me Love." This completely melted the audience, and just when they thought they couldn't pick themselves back up, she returned to the stage for a second encore and sang "Be Mine!" again, alone with keys. This time, she sang the song with such sadness, stillness, emotion and conviction that the crowd went numb and had a pop music epiphany. Robyn is what pop music should be.
Amen.
To view some more photos of Robyn at Phoenix Concert Theatre, click here.
 
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