"Can you sing one of her songs?" Not having been acquainted with the Swedish songstress, our friend was hoping for a preview of what he could expect. A few terrible bars of 'Dancing on my own' later, and I was quite surprised he decided to say. I dare say he was glad he did.
Robyn was supposed to be here a couple years ago, hot on the heels of her triumverate of stellar pop albums Body Talk 1,2 and 3, but she didn't make the trip. She was determined to make it up to us. "I hope you've forgiven me Adelaide!" I think it's safe to say we had.
She walked out to the strains of 'Dont f***ing tell me what to do', put the crowd on alert as to what to expect - in-your-face pop music, no bullshit.
She launched into 'Dancing on my own' early on, and it was clear that she was doing her own thing. Whilst most people may have been worried that playing your most popular song so early in your set would be a disastrous move, it instead set the tone for the show and Robyn made sure we were locked in from there on out.
The song has a propulsive 4/4 beat that is prevalent in all the best Robyn tracks, and instead of coasting on the songs mammoth sound, Robyn rides it like a bucking bronco. She brings a physicality to her stage show, whether it's through slyly choreographed hand movements or shadow-boxing the crowd with the intensity of Mike Tyson.
'Be mine' rocketed out of the gate, so much so that we were still recovering from the last track when it started, and the by the time the breakdown arrived after the second chorus, Robyn was on her knees, leaning back to the floor like the scarf she coveted in the song was actually still a issue for her!
Every song seemed to be a mission statement in itself, and Robyn imbued tracks like 'Kobra Style' and 'Fembot' with more chutzpah than I would have thought they deserved. I was happily wrong.
By the time she encored with 'With Every Heartbeat', she hadn't so much won the crowd as slapped us in the face and forced us to comply with her code of honour - dance with emotion. You're welcome back any time Robyn.
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