Last Week Live: The xx

British indie pop sensation The xx wowed Rams Head Live’s audience with strong electro beats and elaborate lights this past Monday night, Jan. 28.

The show, originally scheduled for Oct. 30 but postponed due to Hurricane Sandy, was undoubtedly worth the months of wait.

The xx gained critical acclaim after the 2009 release of their self-titled debut album, placing first on The Guardian’s Best Albums of the Year. The band’s distinct eerily simple sound soon became a hit overseas as well. The album placed ninth on Rolling Stone’s Best Albums of 2009.

Despite the haunting complexity of The xx’s music, the band only consists of three members: bassist/vocalist Oliver Sim, guitarist/vocalist Romy Madley Croft and drummer/DJ Jamie Smith. Coexist, the band’s second album was released in September 2012, and it aimed to integrate a more “club music feel” alongside The xx’s traditional whispery melodies.

The xx surely knows how to leave the audience hanging. The band came on thirty minutes late, allowing crowd members to acclimate to the smell of vomit and the weed emanating through the Rams Head air before they arrived on stage. Despite the familiar concert hall aromas, the crowd was not what one would expect; the venue was flooded with 30-something-year-old Baltimore City College students and speckled with 50-year-old men and, of course, the occasional college undergrad. This is inevitably more telling of Baltimore’s demographic than The xx’s general fan base, although the 50-something red-lipsticked cougar guiding her 20-something boyfriend through the crowd was quite the wildcard. Nonetheless, the crowd was generally civil and pleasant when enduring the band’s late arrival.

The xx came on with “Angels,” the lead single from their second album Coexist. Unlike other artists who are more eager to perform recent work, the band satisfied audiences with an even mix of hits from both albums, playing older favorites such as “Crystalised,” “Islands,” “Shelter” and “VCR.”

Lead singers Sim and Croft were awkward at times, performing forced synchronized dance moves and singing within inches of each other quite romantically despite both members’ open homosexuality.  However, this odd stage presence is something the band is aware of. In an interview with Spin magazine in August, Croft noted that “Selling ourselves is not something we’re good at.”

Despite these faults, The xx succeeded in creating an intimate atmosphere that was completely their own. The lights centered on a common theme of black and white, in keeping with their first album cover, and it allowed the absence of light to have just as much of an impact as the bright white flashed. A large sheet behind the band served as a projector screen, displaying a range of black and white patterns and images. Smith’s drum pads rested on twin transparent tables emblazed with large X’s. The set’s emphasis on minimalism and negative space echoed that of the music, and created an atmosphere similar to that of the small garage where the band recorded their first album.

The xx surprised audiences by seamlessly transitioning from their traditional slow sound into fast and heavy trance electro beats. Smith was primarily responsible for this, shifting from steel drums to DJing. While the results could have been jarring, the band pulled it off seamlessly, creating a club environment, to the audience’s delight.

The most memorable moment of the set was when Sims forgot a verse of “Islands.” He proceeded to genuinely apologize to the crowd, claiming that although he had been performing the song since age 17, he had only now forgotten the lyrics.  After closing with “Intro,” the band played a generous encore of “Tides” and “Stars.” This was set against a projected backdrop of their iconic X, which shifted from white to the rainbow oil spill pattern recognizable as Coexist’s cover art.

Overall, The xx gave an alluring, intimate performance, establishing themselves as a band not to be missed.

Be sure to check their site (thexx.info/live) for upcoming concert dates or catch them at Coachella on April 13.