Sophie Ellis-Bexter + Electric Spank, live at the 
Watering Hole, Perranporth
Gig Date: 20th September 2024
I have to admit, I had an ulterior motive for heading to this gig. Sure, the chance to see the poised princess of pop in Cornwall was one I didn't want to miss but I was also really excited to visit the legendary beach venue the Watering Hole down in Perranporth. Before the main event, however, we had Exeter six piece Electric Spank to enjoy and boy oh boy were they enjoyable. Thumb slapped bass, funky guitar, punchy drums and smooth keys were punctuated with blasts on the sax but all this was just the backdrop. Frontwoman Lucy was having the time of her life and was keen to share it with us all as she spun and danced while belting out brilliantly soulful vocals and working the crowd like a pro. A final flourish to top off their set of originals was a superb cover of Basement Jaxx's 'Good Luck' and the audience was well and truly warmed up.
Seeing Sophie Ellis-Bexter take to the stage in a sparkly silver dress was very much on brand but having a band wearing full head masks of a pigeon, shark and various other animals was less predictable. Sure enough, we were treated to a string of hits including 'Music Gets The Best Of Me', 'Crying At The Discotheque', 'Take Me Home', 'Hypnotized' and 'Catch You'. There was a nod to the past with a performance of 'Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)' which bled into a cheeky cover of Modjo's 'Lady (Hear Me Tonight)' and a cover of ABBA's 'Gimme Gimme Gimme' to please the beach going masses. Of course, the moment 90% of the audience were waiting for was 'Murder On The Dance Floor' but a cover of Madonna's 'Like A Prayer' was equally well received. The night flew by and they performers seemed to be having just as much fun as the audience so it was a perfect way to end the summer. An encore of ABBA's 'Dancing Queen' topped the night and the only disappoint for me was that Ellis Bexter didn't perform anything from her days fronting 90s indie pioneers theaudience. This is some arch hair-splitting though as we were treated to a pitch-perfect night of poised pop and it was perfect.
More information:
Sophie Ellis-Bexter - https://www.facebook.com/SophieEllisBextor
Electric Spank - https://www.facebook.com/electricspank