Louis XIV

Andy J Ryan Mar 20, 2023

Louis XIV - Rebel Rebel, 17 June 2006
They were banned from playing in the south of America, major retailers refused to stock their album, they came (ooh err!), they played, and they made a dirty great noise.†
Riding into town with a more than sordid reputation preceding them, with the band being banned from playing certain American states, not to mention the furore over their latest album cover, it was almost a shock to see the band almost humbly arrive on stage with little fanfare. This was a band after all who had claimed that the influence of seeing them live had caused the normally asexual Morrissey to go off and write an album jam-packed with songs about sex after seeing them in LA. Their initial appearance didn't exactly scream out sex gods either, with one guitarist looking as though his religious beliefs would prevent him from using an electrical appliance, and the mullet on singer Jason Hill, well Fraser Gehrig would be proud of that one.
However when they launch into their blistering number God Killed the Queen with its overt opening of "If you want to take my body tonight/Then you got to be somebody tonight/Use me just to make your body feel right..." one may be moved to yell out "I want your baby" or throw their knickers onstage. Yesiree at their best Louis are just your grand old rock band from bygone eras where the credo was more about sex & drugs & rock 'n' roll and less about fashion and fringes. Slade on Viagra, but with better spelling. Whilst they may not have connected entirely with the audience, they were at face value thoroughly entertaining, fun even. They even showed their musical dexterity by slipping in the keyboard fuelled power ballad All the Little Pieces, which saw hands to chests and lighters out swaying along.
It was left for their breakthrough single Finding out True Love is Blind as their last hurrah, Louis XIV left us in a bit of a lather, a bit curious, and somewhat less innocent than when we had walked in. Upholding the rock traditions of old, they even had someone appointed solely to find girls for them after the show. Classy.