Cajun Dance Party - ULU, London - Friday 10th October 2008

A few months after first seeing them at the Bloomsbury Ballroom, I went to see Cajun Dance Party at ULU. Which is a place that even London taxi drivers have no idea of the existence of, or even the street it is on - maybe it is in some kind of black hole. So, after directing the cabbie there, we eventually camped in the secret back bar (the one with no queues whatsoever, unlike the packed one that most people seem to gravitate to), and waited for the band to come on. There was a support band, called Swanton Bombs, but I didn't see enough of them to pass judgement.

As Cajun Dance Party came on stage, the back bar emptied, and we got a decent place quite near the front of the stage. There were still tickets on sale for this gig a couple of days before, and it didn't look anywhere near sold out to me - there was plenty of space around. Which, given the fact that the venue only holds about 800, was a surprise - I had expected CDP to be able to sell out at least a venue this size.

The set included most of their album The Colourful Life, as well as about 3 or 4 new songs, including the excellent Five Days. Highlights for me were Amylase and The Race, both brilliant indie pop songs. But, the PA sounded generally very quiet throughout, which was a bit strange. And, exactly the same as the last time I saw them, I thought they sounded very similar - too similar - to how they sound on record. Don't get me wrong, I like their CDs, but the live set just lacked something for me. They seem very good at making great sounding albums, and then at almost exactly reproducing that sound when they play live. It sounds good, but to me, it doesn't make them very exciting as a live band.

A good show overall, but it left me wondering what to think about Cajun Dance Party. Listening to their CDs, you scratch your head and wonder why many more people don't like them - and why they aren't already playing places like the Astoria, rather than struggling to sell out ULU. But then when you see them live, it all seems a bit too polished, and like the CD - so I can understand why their gigs aren't such huge attractions. But surely people need to have seen them live first to work this out? All very confusing.