It has become an essential task to make a beeline for at least one gig by this Detroit six-piece every year. Given that Electric Six tour relentlessly and are usually in the UK for at least two tours annually, that should not be that difficult to achieve. But sold-out signs across the country mean you do need to act quickly to grab those tickets.
Electric Six
O2 Academy Islington – 7 December 2024
Words: Paul Hutchings
Photography: Steve Ritchie
Thwarted from their summer show in Cardiff due to a bout of illness, it’s back to the smoke a fortnight after my last visit to London to renew my acquaintance with Electric Six, a band I have seen many times over the years.
The weather is grim, with Storm Darragh violently lashing my countrymen back home. It’s much better the further east you go, and although it is cold, damp, and miserable, it is in no way challenging by comparison. And once into the sold-out O2 Academy, any troubles we may have with the outside world disappear at least, as over 90 minutes, the crazies get stuck into an unstoppable performance by the Americans.
It is difficult to conjure up enough superlatives for this band. Beneath the zany exterior and on-stage antics lurks a superbly professional outfit who are slick and fired up. They have been in the UK for a fortnight, and this is their penultimate show of the tour.
The London crowd is always up for a party, and tonight is no exception. There is every type of expression in response to the band’s infectious grooves; mosh pits, pogoing, and shape-pulling can be seen around the tightly packed venue.
With a huge catalogue to draw from, the set is long. 20 plus songs get airings, with a good smattering from 2023’s excellent Turquoise, although, as always, it is their seminal debut release Fire that features most heavily in the selection.
The band may be known for the hit Gay Bar, but there are many songs in the discography which are also deserving of your attention. From The New Shampoo and Staten Island Ass Squad, Dirty Ball and Hello, I See You through to the crowd pleasing I Buy The Drugs and the electronic vibes of Synthesiser, Electric Six have much to use from their arsenal of catchy tunes. And use it they do. 
The tempo is finely balanced. Newer songs bulk the first part of the show. “We have to play some to please the record company,” says singer Dick Valentine, leaving fan favourites for later as the temperature rises.
It is raucous from the off though, even if many in the audience are not that familiar with Turquoise, Hot Numbers On The Telephone or Window Of Time.
Of course, the place erupts when The White Wolf hits that riff, and that song is played, surely the Ace Of Spades of the band’s collection, and as it’s followed by Gay Bar Part 2 and then She’s White, the energy simply continues. 
An explosive Dance Epidemic and euphoric I Buy The Drugs closes the main set, but we know there is more. A crazed cover of Murder On The Dancefloor, the driving burst of We Were Witchy Witchy White Women, complete with the crowd asked to sit and reduce the energy to “Dick Cheney comatose levels” before going crazy for the final 30 seconds of the song.
A final, triumphant Dance Commander sees the band finish with a flourish. There are smiles all around. 
As always, it’s the collective on stage that does the business. Led by the ringleader Valentine, whose deadpan delivery never gets old, the band switch styles with ease.
The mix of punk, new wave, hard rock and disco makes Electric Six an eclectic event which everyone should experience at least once in their life.
They will be back in 2025. You have the opportunity … take it. 
