Romy Madley Croft of The XX. Photograph: Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage
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Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith
Official Site
Official Blog
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Store
Jamie xx blog
Jamie xx Info
News
Music
Downloads
Videos
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Articles
Quotes
• Ask me anything
• Submit The xx
The xx @ Lucerna, Prague
See more photos here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.604695239540501.1073742108.332010566808971&type=1
The first Night+Day happened in Lisbon last week and it was so much fun! To see it for yourself and to get an idea of what to expect from Berlin and London, take a look at this video. xx The xx
Romy XX shares her dark festival experiences
The xx’s reluctant frontwoman on dark nights, darker attire and the pressures of hosting your own festival
The Guardian, Thursday 9 May 2013 05.31 EDT
What was your first festival experience?
Oliver’s mum took us to Reading when we were 14, which, when I think about it now, is pretty hilarious. She was a massive fan of the White Stripes. She saw that Oliver and I were falling in love with live music and took us along. She was way more hardcore than us: she stayed down at the front through punk bands like Dropkick Murphys to watch the White Stripes. I remember being amazed by it all, but at the same time thinking: Get me away from this place.
You’ve gone from the mid-afternoon siesta slot to headliners in a short time. How does it compare?
It’s been quite sudden but although it’s more pressure being high on the bill, our band is better suited to night. We’re awful in daylight – there’s a lot of bumping around and I feel so exposed. We put on a much better show in the dark. I feel more comfortable surrounded by lights and the smoke.
You’re quite shy. Do you find the intensity of festivals hard?
You can try and hide, but actually I find it more relaxing to watch the other bands on the stage I’m about to play on. It makes me feel calmer than sitting backstage thinking: Oh my god, what am I about to do?
Who is your ultimate festival act?
One band who are always incredible to watch at festivals are the Kills. It’s not like they’ve got loads of stage production, it’s just them on stage, going for it. Seeing the two of them side by side, boy and girl, with no obvious lead singer – it inspired the xx hugely. Alison Mosshart came to watch us recently and I could see her from the stage with her new tequila sunrise hair. That was quite a big moment for me.
You’ve just come back from Coachella. What are the differences between UK and US festivals?
I feel like it’s normal to see English people going crazy, but in the US it’s a different kind of wild. There was a lot of screaming at a show we played in America recently and that wouldn’t happen in England. I came off stage thinking: What band were they watching? It shocked me, it was a proper One Direction scream!
How do you manage to reconcile rain ponchos and wellies with your all-black band uniform?
You’ve got to wear wellies. It would be a mudfest without them. Oliver and I went to Glastonbury in 2011 just for fun – the weather wasn’t good, so we bought wellies and got involved like everyone else. If it was raining, I think I’d wear a poncho. I would be happier if it was a black one, though.
You’re curating your own Night + Day festival this summer. As it’s your party, can you sit back and relax for once?
Oh, not at all. It’s our party down to every little detail. We’re considering everything from the atmosphere to the kind of food we want to the DJs we get to play. I’ll be well prepared for my wedding after this •
The xx play Night + Day, Glastonbury, Pukkelpop and Positivus
The xx, Night + Day, Torre de Belém, Portugal, review
Noir pop band The xx redefined the music festival with an impressive performance in Portugal, writes Alice Vincent.
9:21AM BST 07 May 2013
The typically musical festival vibe of mud and warm beer festival vibe doesn’t really fit London art rock trio The xx, so they curated their own series of live “experiences” this summer, called Day + Night.
The xx, Romy Madley-Croft and Oliver Sim on guitars and vocals, Jamie Smith (better known as Jamie xx) on synths and percussion, all 25, played the first one in Belém, a suburb of Lisbon with a tower that overlooks the Tagus River like a 16th-century chess piece.
Sim described the gig as “like [their] wedding” – it had been over a year in the making and an impressive vision for a band who came to critical attention just four years ago with their Mercury Prize-winning debut album, xx. An eclectic collection of DJ sets, including an awkwardly executed effort from LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, emanated from a nearby bandstand.
As is written into their contract, The xx came onstage once darkness had fallen to the eerie, bold synth intro of Try, a track from their second album, Coexist, released last year. Despite being clad in black, the band were blanched out by elaborate, incandescent lighting, which was fiitting with The xx’s live tradition of transforming their bedroom music back catalogue into something rowdy and unrecognisable on stage.
Although Madley-Croft’s husky yelps and Sim’s softly snarly vocals were smart, this show was Smith’s work for the unexpected extras that kept the crowd on their toes. In three years Smith has become a recognised producer and DJ, bringing Gil Scott-Heron a new audience with a remix album in the year he died and producing R’n’B star Drake’s title track, Take Care.
On Sunday, he broke into his cult solo hit Far Nearer, after an underwhelming rendition of Reunion, and shaped the performance with dramatic kettle drum solos, helping to create seamless synthy connections between performances of Missing, Fiction, Night Time and Shelter as cloud-patterned lasers passed overhead.
But The xx’s musical prowess won out through the smoke and mirrors, as was proved by the brave decision to encore with the instrumental Intro, and Angels, into which Madley-Croft poured genuine vocal adoration.
After a setlist of songs about heartbreak, it was a fitting ending. To paraphrase their love-struck song VCR, the band were half in the daytime, half at night, finally by the sea and in the company of hundreds. More festivals should be like this.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/live-music-reviews/10040747/The-xx-Night-Day-Torre-de-Belem-Portugal-review.html
The xx plus CHIC feat. Nile Rodgers
Tuesday 2 July 2013
- Tickets: £35 plus £5 booking fee.
- Buy tickets online here.
The xx create a unique atmosphere with their understated indie sound. The subtle vocals of Romy Madley-Croft and Oliver Sim combine over minimal guitar riffs and producer Jamie xx’s electronic beats to give birth to beautifully haunting songs.
The London trio have forged a reputation for powerful live performances and their show at last year’s Bestival drew the largest crowd in the history of the festival.
The band released their second album, Coexist, in 2012 to widespread critical and popular acclaim – it topped the UK album charts and made it into the US top ten. The album and the singles, Chained and Angels, have also created a huge
buzz online.
The xx won the Mercury Music Prize in 2009 for their first album, which included the singles Islands, Crystalised, Basic Space and VCR. The album featured in many ‘best of the year’ lists in magazines such as the NME and Rolling Stone.
Their music has also received major exposure through its use in soundtracks for TV shows and at events such as the Euro 2012 football tournament. Their debut album opener, Intro, was used by the BBC in their coverage of the 2010 general election.
Links: official website and social media
CHIC feat. Nile Rodgers
Disco superstars CHIC feat. Nile Rodgers, who worked with Daft Punk on their infectious number one Get Lucky, will be special guests for The xx Session.
CHIC have been stalwarts of the disco, pop and hip-hop scenes since their formation in the late seventies. With tracks such as Le Freak, I Want Your Love, Everybody Dance, My Forbidden Lover and Good Times, they quickly became a hot property and started writing and producing for some massive names, including Diana Ross.
As a solo artist, Rodgers produced some of the biggest albums of the 20th century, including David Bowie’s Let’s Dance and Madonna’s Like a Virgin. He also featured on Michael Jackson’s Money, from the HIStory album.
Nile Rodgers said: “We’re looking forward to setting the Eden Project alight with the sound of disco in July and are proud to be special guests to the incredible xx. Get ready…”
