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Lake Placid

Rust, Copenhagen
Live
5 out of 6
Date: 10 June, 2004

If this were England and this were NME, one would ask the art director to find his or her largest fonts and write "The best new band in Britain!" across the front page in big, bold letters. But after all, we are in Denmark, where we perhaps choose our words a little more carefully. That should, however, not put a damper on the excitement, because with Lake Placid, we are well on our way to having a wonderful band.

The newcomers of Copenhagen evidently felt at ease in a nicely filled Rust, where many friends made their presence known. If the band can perform with the same level of confidence and delight on the road, the prospects are good. Just as their debut album, "Make More Friends", the concert revealed that the eight band members make up a highly talented group. First and foremost, the band have a fantastic flair for melodies. The hits are literally standing in line with the powerful pop anthems "Me And My Friends", "We Are The Lakes" and "Are You With Me?" at the forefront. In their essence, Lake Placid are a 'good times' band, and all danced around on stage with a contagious attitude and obvious love of music.

With the grand "This Air" and the electric "We All Bleed", Lake Placid showed that they also master the more melancholic material with great conviction, and it is within this duality that their potential is truly hidden. The music is filled with quirky details and creative capers, and the talent goes a long way beyond Denmark's borders. The active young Music Management students, who make up the band's more business minded support team, should maybe turn to England next.

One can already imagine British reviewers letting themselves be charmed by the band's goodnatured and nerdy drive, which they no doubt will label "nordic quirkiness". And even more certain, they will fall head over heels in love with lovely singer, Tania Kristin Skaptadottír Ballentine, who is not only easy on the eyes, but on this night also proved that she masters both the cheerful anthems and moody ballads. That is, backed by a band, who playfully threw themselves into the material and who were not afraid to use all the colours in the musical palette.

It was a pleasure watching this flower unfold. The best new band in Denmark? It certainly can't be ruled out.

By Jesper Nykjær Knudsen, Gaffa.
 

lake placid's website

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