LIVE: The xx and Nosaj Thing at Paradise in Boston 4/2/10

I finally had the chance to check out The xx live for the first time this past weekend when the band visited Boston on their first ever U.S. headlining tour. The xx pulled double duty at the sold out paradise this past Friday, playing a 7pm show with L.A. based DJ Nosaj Thing and a 9pm show with jj. I opted for the early show, basing this solely on the disastrous reviews jj have been accumulating lately.

Nosaj Thing took the stage to about a 3/4 capacity crowd wielding only his laptop, and mixer, and one spotlight. His set started off great with some tricks I haven't seen done before with his mixer and he definitely got everyone's head bobbing. The first 10 minutes of his 30 minute set was great, but after the novelty wore off it was basically repetitive. The underlying beat remained mostly the same throughout and while his skills on the mixing board were a treat to see at the start, he did a lot of recycling and toward the end of the set was borderline boring.
Wasting no time, The xx took the stage about 20 minutes after Nosaj Thing left and proceeded to put on one hell of a show for their first headlining tour. To a packed audience, the band played a 45 minute set that got better with each song. Romy Croft and Oliver Sim played perfectly off each other the entire night, creating an excitingly creative dialogue within their performance. The smooth, slow motion slither of Sim on bass was a treat to see. What a great front man on bass, angling himself and instrument perfectly off the light show, keeping the crowd mesmerized. And every time Croft stepped the mic all eyes were on her. It's amazing how captivating a person can be, while coming off so effortlessly. One of the best shows of the year.

SETLIST:
Intro
Crystalised
Islands
Heart Skipped A Beat
Fantasy
Shelter
VCR
Do You Mind (Kyla Cover)
Basic Space
Night Time
Infinity