N*E*R*D
Levi’s Flagship Store Launch Party
Heaven, London
30/03/10

It’s not exactly the revelation of the century to say that tonight’s bash, celebrating the launch of Levi’s new Regent Street store, is a fairly schmoozy affair: half of Bombay Bicycle Club rubbing shoulders with Henry Holland and the one from Mis-teeq that was on The Dancing On Ice With The Stars Factor or whatever. The beautiful people with the more beautiful people and the people that have enough money to entirely make themselves beautiful. It’s also, therefore, not particularly surprising to say that – given the nature of the crowd – even a headlining slot from hip-hop uber-mensch N*E*R*D is greeted with the kind of understated nonchalant enthusiasm generally reserved for a particularly good Greggs sausage roll.
Pharell and co, however, are either unphased or blinded by enough stage lights not to notice. Tearing through the old classics – ‘Party People’, ‘She Wants To Move’ and not one but two renditions of debut single, ‘Hot And Fun’ because, well, they’re N*E*R*D and they can – and throwing in a dash of Nelly’s ‘Hot In Here’ for good measure, it’s the kind of glam-yet-grunge, gloriously filthy affair that affirms the band’s almost unrivalled crossover appeal and reminds you just why they’re at the top of the stack. Heck, by the time they unleash ‘Lapdance’ even the famous faces are grinding with the best of them.
Sadly the assembled throng’s new-found enthusiasm doesn’t extend to 2manydjs who, despite being pretty much the only people who can sell out consecutive nights at Brixton based purely on an ability to segue Gossip songs into each other, end up playing to about 60 people.
It’s a shame it has to end this way, but it doesn’t take the shine off of N*E*R*D’s brilliance.

Lisa Wright